ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned remarks by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, describing them as “highly provocative and irresponsible” and accusing New Delhi of attempting to distort the territory’s internationally recognised status.
A statement issued by the Foreign Office said Singh’s comments misrepresented the legal and political realities surrounding Jammu and Kashmir, which, it stressed, remains an internationally recognised dispute on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.
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Pakistan Condemns Remarks by Indian Defense Minister
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— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) July 26, 2026
According to the statement, the Indian minister’s remarks reflected New Delhi’s deliberate policy of heightening regional tensions and undermining international peace and security.
The Foreign Office further said the comments were intended to divert international attention from India’s policies in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which it added remain at the centre of the unresolved Kashmir dispute.
“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.
It also accused India of sponsoring terrorism in the region and pointed to the country’s domestic instability.
The statement came a day after Singh said that any future dialogue with Pakistan would focus only on what India refers to as “Pakistan-administered Kashmir.”
He also asserted that the Indian government had granted its armed forces full operational freedom to respond to security threats and expressed confidence that no adversary would challenge India.
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Responding to those remarks, Islamabad said India should refrain from what it called “misplaced rhetoric of aggression and belligerence” and cautioned against underestimating Pakistan’s resolve to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Foreign Office said Pakistan’s determination had been demonstrated by its armed forces and the nation during Operation Bunyan-ul-Marsoos last year, adding that any form of “Indian adventurism” would be firmly resisted.
Calling for international attention, Pakistan urged the United Nations and the wider international community to take notice of India’s continued “rogue behaviour” and hold New Delhi accountable for failing to implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
It reiterated that those resolutions guarantee the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination. The statement underscored Pakistan’s longstanding position that the Kashmir issue should be resolved in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Defence Minister warns India against provocative rhetoric over Kashmir
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has rejected India’s attempts to alter the internationally recognised legal positions through “coercive rhetoric”, saying such statements could not change the realities on the ground.
Responding to remarks by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Asif said the comments represented a continued effort to distort established legal and political realities through rhetoric and pressure tactics.
“Such statements neither change the status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) nor contribute to regional peace, stability or meaningful dialogue,” Asif said in a post on X.
India’s continued attempts to rewrite internationally recognised legal realities through coercive rhetoric cannot alter the facts. Pakistan categorically rejects the irresponsible remarks made by the Indian Defence Minister. Such statements reflect a continued attempt to distort…
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) July 26, 2026
The defence minister accused India of attempting to undermine Pakistan’s credibility despite what he called its own “well-documented record” of state-sponsored terrorism and destabilising activities in the region.
“India’s repeated efforts to malign Pakistan lack credibility in view of its own record of actions that have contributed to instability in South Asia,” he said, adding that New Delhi’s policies reflected “aggressive and revisionist designs”.
Asif also warned that India’s statements could increase tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, saying such rhetoric risked lowering the threshold for a potential interstate conflict.
He reiterated that Pakistan remained committed to peace and dialogue, but stressed that its determination to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security was “absolute and must never be tested”.
The minister further stated that such statements were aimed at diverting attention from domestic challenges in India, including political tensions and growing criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance style.
