Pakistan’s 10 member team which had arrived yesterday in Chennai, India has withdrawn from the event. Allsportspk has confirmed that the decision has been communicated to the visiting squad officials, who are finalising the return plan.
The Foreign Office of Pakistan condemned what it called India’s mischievous attempt to “politicise” the event by passing the torch relay of this event on 21st June, through the IIOJK-Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The torch relay, during the last 40 days has passed through 75 cities and is planned to reach the venue before the official opening on 28th July.
The official statement of Foreign Office stated, “The torch relay passed through Srinagar on 21 June 2022. By passing the torch relay through IIOJK, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged “disputed” status of the territory, India has committed a travesty that the international community cannot accept under any circumstances.”
“Pakistan also strongly urges the international community to call upon India to end its gross and systematic violations of human rights in IIOJK, revoke its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, and free all political prisoners including the true Kashmiri leaders,” Islamabad noted, in a press release that also accused India of ‘tyrannical occupation’ of the region for ‘over seven decades’.
