New Delhi: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) set up its new Meterological centre at Leh in Laddakh on April 30 and added places of Pakistan occupied Kashmir in its weather forecast list for next five days beginning today. (See image).
The move is seen as a subtle move by India to claim its rights over PoK. The Gilgit-Baltistan region of PoK have been shown as the ‘north-west’ subdivision. The official IMD website too has listed local weather report for towns towns such as Muzaffarabad, Skardu, Nilam in Gilgit-Baltistan region.
The IMD’s move has come just days after Pakistan’s Supreme Court allowed elections in Gilgit-Baltistan region. In response, India told Islamabad that Pakistan had no locus standi in Gilgit-Baltistan and asked that country to vacate PoK, which India said is its integral part.
“India demarched senior Pakistan diplomat and lodged a strong protest to Pakistan against Supreme Court of Pakistan order on the so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ ,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated, adding that “It was clearly conveyed that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India by virtue of its fully legal and irrevocable accession” .
