Indian Defence Minister's comments on Kashmir dispute condemned by Pakistan

The Foreign Office (FO) has condemned Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s “highly provocative and irresponsible comments” regarding the Kashmir dispute, saying that the neighbouring country must not underestimate Pakistan’s resolve to “thwart any Indian adventurism”. On Sunday, Singh had stated that there would be “no talks with Pakistan”. According to the Times of India , he went on to say that if any took place, they would only be on Azad Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that it was “illegally occupied by Pakistan”. He also said that any “misadventure” would invite a response “beyond their imagination”, the publication said. The FO responded to the claims in a statement issued early on Monday, saying Pakistan condemned in the “strongest possible terms the highly provocative and irresponsible comments” by the Indian minister. “His statement not only distorts facts regarding the UN and internationally recognised Jammu and Kashmir dispute that remains on the agenda of the UN Security Council but also shows Indian government’s deliberate policy to threaten regional and international peace and security,” the FO said. “Such insinuations are an attempt to divert attention from India’s continued occupation of Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, its sponsorship of terrorism across the region, as well as its domestic instability,” it said. “While resorting to its misplaced rhetoric of aggression and belligerence, India must not underestimate the people and government of Pakistan’s unwavering resolve and determination to thwart any Indian adventurism as demonstrated by the entire Pakistani nation and its valiant armed forces during Operation Bunyanum Marsoos last year,” it said. In May 2025, a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India was sparked by an attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, linked with Pakistan. Islamabad strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation . The two had traded tit-for-tat strikes before American intervention on May 10 led to a ceasefire . “Pakistan urges the international community, in particular the United Nations, to take note of India’s continued rogue behaviour and to hold it accountable for its failure to uphold the relevant UN Security Council resolutions that guarantee the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the FO statement said. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that India’s “continued attempts to rewrite internationally recognised legal realities through coercive rhetoric cannot alter the facts”. Referencing Singh’s remarks, he said that such statements reflected a continued attempt to distort internationally recognised legal realities through political rhetoric and coercive posturing. “They neither alter the status of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir nor contribute to regional peace, stability or meaningful dialogue,” the minister said in a post on X. “India’s repeated attempts to malign Pakistan