Turkish, Pakistani leaders discuss India’s Kashmir move

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Pakistani counterpart discussed India’s scrapping of Kashmir’s special status Monday.

Prime Minister Imran Khan phoned Erdogan to inform him about India’s latest move, said the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate.

Erdogan called on Pakistan and India to strengthen the dialogue process, the statement added.

“India’s illegal action of modifying the special status of Indian occupied Kashmir will have serious implications for regional peace and security,” Khan said, according to a statement by his office.

Khan “reiterated that Pakistan would continue its diplomatic, moral and political support to the just cause of the Kashmiri struggle for their right to self-determination as enshrined in United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the statement added.

Erdogan also shared his concerns over the situation and assured Khan of Turkey’s “steadfast support in this regard”.

India on Monday scrapped the special status granted to the country’s only Muslim-majority state which allowed it autonomy in exchange for joining the Indian union after independence in 1947.

The provision allowed Jammu and Kashmir to enact its own laws and disallowed outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.

The Himalayan region is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

Since they were partitioned, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989, according to several human rights organizations.