India’s scrapping of Article 370 can be challenged in ICJ, UNSC: ex-envoy

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Monday lamented the Indian government’s decision to revoke the special status of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir Valley and said that “so-called world’s biggest democracy has exposed its abominable face”.

Basit noted that Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which gives special status to the occupied region, could not be annulled or abrogated simply by the Parliament or by the order of the central government in New Delhi.

“Article 370 could only be annulled by the Parliament of Kashmir,” said the seasoned diplomat.

“Pakistan have options to challenge the illegitimate move at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and United Nations Security Council (UNSC)”, he suggested.

Earlier, the Indian government moved a contentious bill in the Upper House of the Parliament, Rajaya Sabha, to remove Article 370 from the constitution.