Although there has been no official statement made by the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Indian media keep insisting on Saturday that Moscow has backed its move of abolishing the special status of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir valley.
“Moscow expects that Pakistan and India will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region due to the change by New Delhi in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” various Indian newspapers claimed, mentioning the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We proceed from the fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir are within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India,” Indian media statements quoted the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry as having said.
“We hope that the differences between them will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Shimla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999,” the statement added.
Neither such statements are available on the official website of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry nor on its official social media accounts.
The tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the BJP-led Indian government’s announcement that it is abolishing Article 370 of the Indian constitution which sustains a status of autonomy to the region, giving it the right to form its own laws, raise its own flag, and also prevented Indian citizens from buying property in Kashmir and holding positions within its administration.
Right now, Several million Kashmiris are currently cut off from communicating with the outside world as India has started strengthening its ferocious military clutches on the occupied state. India has ceased down the network facilities, including internet and landlines, banned protests and group gatherings, imposed curfews and deployed tens of thousands of troops into the region to escalate its existing military power of around 700,000 soldiers in the occupied valley of Kashmir.