India has lodged a complaint with the US on Donald Blome, the US ambassador to Pakistan, visiting Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to the government. Blome had previously been to this area, which India has repeatedly stated is still under the unlawful possession of Pakistan, twice in the previous two years.
India had last year too raised the issue with US authorities. “Our position on the entire Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir being an integral part of India is well known. We would like to urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
Blome recently paid a three-day visit to the Gilgit-Baltistan region, where he met with regional leaders, according to Pakistani media. Eric Garcetti, the US ambassador to India, had defended the trip by pointing out that an earlier G20 group from the US had also visited Jammu & Kashmir. However, the MEA claimed that the two circumstances were not "equivalent."
“We have raised our concerns about that visit by the US ambassador of Pakistan with the US side. On the comments made by the US ambassador to India, we don’t think the two situations are equivalent,’’ said the Indian official.