New Delhi, May 17, 2016: Indian government has refused to take into account Pakistan’s issues with the Geospatial Bill. The Ministry of External Affairs in a response to the Pakistan Foreign Office statement statement on India’s Geospatial Bill clearly said that:
“The proposed Bill is an entirely internal legislative matter of India, since the whole of the state of J&K is an integral part of India. Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi in the matter.
It also said that:
“The Government firmly rejects Pakistan’s repeated and increasing attempts to impose on the international community matters that India has always been open to address bilaterally with Pakistan.”
In short, India is steadfast in its resolve to keep Pakistan out of anything ‘domestic.’
Indo-Pak relations are not best of terms any more after the Pathankot attack and Pakistan’s refusal to act against terrorists based in its territory. Pakistan has earlier also alleged that it had caught an ‘Indian Spy’ Kulbhushan Jadhav and even dragged Iran into it. Subsequently both Iran and India trashed the claims and the entire stunt got no response from either China or the USA giving it more heartburn.
While the relations between the two nations may not be on best of terms, the relations between the two Prime Ministers is going steady. Here it is important to state that Nawaz Sharif is also committed to keep Pakistan on the track of development with its Orange Line Project (Lahore Metro train) while the Indian Prime Minister is pushing ahead for the bullet trains.
But still, despite the similarities between the two Prime Ministers, the two nations are embroiled in one controversy after another.
Kashmir remains a bone of contention and is often described by Pakistan as the core issue that must be sorted out first which India does not agree to.
The Bill, once passed, will criminalise thee geographical depictions of Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a disputed territory which would make the offender liable to pay a billion-rupee fine and jail time.
Here is the part that has Pakistan worried:
