V/D/C NEWS:
New Delhi: After drawing flak in his own country for making 'controversial' comments on Article 370, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday went into damage control mode saying nothing about Kashmir can be India's internal matter.
During a television interview last week, Qureshi said that the dilution of Article 370 is India's internal matter and that the move has been challenged in the Indian Supreme Court.
"In my view, Article 370 is not important," he had said. And when asked what is important for Pakistan, he replied, "Article 35A".
Article 35A, incorporated into the Constitution in 1954 by an order of the President in 1954, allowed the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define permanent residents of the state, their special rights and privileges.
Explaining why Article 35A is important to Pakistan, Qureshi said that India could try to restructure the demography of Kashmir by doing away with it.
After the TV interview, Shah Mahmood Qureshi was heavily criticised in Pakistan.
On Monday, he took to his official Twitter handle and said, "Let me be clear: Jammu & Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute on the @UN Security Council agenda. Final settlement of the dispute lies in #UNSC resolution calling for free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices."
