Pak Minister is furious at India’s decision to air weather forecast of PoK

Recently, DD News and All India Radio broadcasted weather reports and temperatures of Indian towns and cities, including Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit in their prime time news bulletins. Pakistan’s government has come under threat after India included areas in PoK in its weather forecasts.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the Regional Meteorological Department said The weather department has started including Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh’s Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) and Muzaffarabad, which are under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, under the Jammu and Kashmir meteorological sub-division since May 5.

From now, India will include Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, which is part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, in its weather report. The territory (PoK) occupied by Pakistan is not controlled by the Pakistan establishment but it is controlled by terrorists. PoK is actually a terrorist-controlled part of Pakistan.

Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, Amit Khare said that this would come into immediate effect. The bulletin will be telecast at 8.55 am and 8.55 pm. This comes after the IMD started including Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, which is part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

POK is an integral part of India which is illegally occupied by Pakistan. Therefore, India reserves the right to include the POK area in its weather report. Even the Indian army is ready to get POK back if they get orders from Parliament. The Broadcasting Ministry said that DD News and All India Radio will also broadcast temperatures and weather reports of Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in their prime-time news bulletins.

Last week India issued a demarche to Pakistan protesting the Pakistan Supreme Court’s order on so-called Gilgit-Baltistan. India has said that the entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh including areas of Gilgit and Baltistan are an integral part of India.

Ministry Secretary Amit Khare in a statement on Friday said that “With effect from today, DD News and All India Radio will broadcast temperatures and weather reports of Indian towns and cities including Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit in their prime-time news bulletins.”

“DD News will telecast the prediction at 8.55 a.m. and 8.55 pm. Private channels will also follow the lead soon,” the official added.

However, weather reports of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK) did not go down well with Pakistan. Pakistan released a statement shortly after the weather reports of POK, calling them ‘unfounded and untrue’.

Pakistan on Friday rejected India’s move to begin broadcasting weather reports on Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), terming it as a “legally void” action to change the status of the region.

In a statement late on Friday, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said Islamabad rejected the Indian move for “inclusion” of PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan in Indian TV weather bulletin.

“Like the so-called ‘political maps’ issued last year by India, this move is also legally void, contrary to reality, and in violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. This is another mischievous Indian action in support of a spurious claim and further evidence of India’s irresponsible behaviour,” the spokesperson said.

“No illegal and unilateral steps by India can change the ‘disputed’ status of Jammu and Kashmir, recognised as such by the international community including the United Nations,” she added.

Pakistan would urge India not to make baseless assertions and to abstain from misleading the world community through unfounded claims, according to the statement.

The IMD has started including Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, which are parts of PoK, under the Jammu and Kashmir meteorological sub-division since May 5.

Writer, historian, and activist Dharam Sikarwar is a very active author The Youth. He writes on national and international issues, environment, politics. He is an avid book reader as well.