Daily Times

The Narendra Modi-led Indian government is hell bent upon robbing the precious resources of internationally recognized disputed territory of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

After announcing the auction of Lithium mines discovered in Reasi district of Jammu division, the Modi regime is all set to auction Kishtwar’s Sapphire mines, the Kashmir Media Service (KMS) reported on Saturday.

The announcement to this effect was made by the Delhi-appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, while speaking in Kishtwar on Friday. He said, in the next one year, we will be in a position to auction the Sapphire mines in a scientific way.

Earlier, the Indian government said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves had been found for the first time in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and is one of the key components in EV batteries, among other industries.

Speaking during an event in New Delhi in May this year, Secretary of Indian Ministry of Mines, Vivek Bhardwaj said that the auction of lithium reserves would start by December. He said the process of consultation with the stakeholders has been completed. Geological Survey of India (GSI) had, in February, announced that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves were found in the Salal-Haimanain area of Reasi district. As per reports, the Indian occupation authorities have completed the demarcation work on the lithium reserves site spread on 3 square km.

Hurriyat leaders and organizations in their statements in Srinagar called upon the United Nations to stop India from robbing the resources of the international-acknowledged disputed Jammu and Kashmir. The President of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, Harsh Dev Singh, addressing a press conference in Jammu in May, had also said that the Modi-led Indian government was desperately attempting to usurp the rich lithium resources found in Reasi district which otherwise belonged to and was the property of the territory and its people.