Daily Times

UNITED NATIONS: Maleeha Lodhi heavily criticised maps released by India that depicted Jammu and Kashmir as part of India. Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations said those maps could not change the fundamental fact that the state is “disputed territory”. She was referring to the controversial draft bill seeking to regulate India’s geospatial information.

“Jammu and Kashmir is disputed territory and numerous UN Security Resolutions attest to this,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told APP. She was commenting on the Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesman’s claim that the state was an integral part of India and that the proposed Geospatial Information Regulation Bill was an “entirely internal legislative matter of India”.

Lodhi’s comments came as the United Nations Security Council published her letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General and the Council’s President, in which she voiced Pakistan ‘s “serious concern” over the Indian move. Under the draft bill, anyone distributing a map that the Indian government deems to be “wrong” could be liable for a billion-rupee fine and jail time. As regards Pakistan’s concerns over the depiction of Jammu and Kashmir as part of India, the Indian spokesman in New Delhi rejected what he called the “repeated and increasing attempts by Pakistan to impose on the international community matters that it had always been open to address bilaterally. The proposed bill is an entirely internal legislative matter of India, since the whole of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” he asserted. “Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi in the matter.”

Responding to questions, Ambassador Lodhi called the Indian claim that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India “untenable”. “This is a travesty of history, morality, international law and facts on the ground”, she said. In her letter, now distributed as an official UN document, the Pakistani envoy regretted that the international community and the United Nations have failed to take notice of this Indian action. “The international community should honour its responsibility to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. More than 65 years later, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are still waiting for the international community and the United Nations to fulfill their commitments by holding an independent and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices,” the letter said. The draft bill, which was circulated by the Indian Home Ministry for comments from the general public on May 4, is likely to be tabled in Parliament after the expiry of the 30-day period. The draft legislation proposes setting up of four enforcement bodies: an Apex Committee, a Security Vetting Authority and an Enforcement and Appellant Authority. Any violation of the license terms and conditions, set in the draft bill, would lead to revocation of license, a fine up to Indian Rupees 1 billion and seven-year imprisonment. In addition, the bill stokes concerns over privacy, free flow of information and innovation.