ISLAMABAD, 08 August 2021, (TON): Pakistan welcomed the UN's reiteration that its position on Indian occupied Kashmir remained unchanged and it continued to see the valley as disputed territory, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO).

The statement came days after UN Secretary General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric clarified during a news briefing in New York that the UN's "position on Kashmir is well established and has not changed".

The clarification followed a claim by India’s UN Ambassador TS Tirmurti that the disputed state was now an integral part of India.

Appreciating the UN's stance, the FO, in a statement, said “Pakistan welcomes the reiteration of the position of UN on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute by the spokesperson of the UN secretary-general. The statement reaffirms that [the] UN position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is well-established and has not changed."

The FO appreciated the timing of the UN statement, which coincided with the completion of two years of "India’s illegal and unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)."

On August 5, 2019, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had revoke occupied Kashmir's special status by repealing Article 370 of the constitution. The move allowed people from the rest of India to have the right to acquire property in occupied Kashmir and settle there permanently.