File Photo of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
India today reacted sharply to Pakistan's comment that resettling Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley will alter the demography of the state and will violate UN resolutions.
"Kashmiri Pandits, Muslims and Sikhs are all an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir's demography," said Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley. "It is natural that when people are sent back... whoever was uprooted is going to go back... (the number of) Kashmiri Pandits will be more."
Earlier today, Tasnim Aslam, the spokesperson of Pakistan foreign ministry, had said any effort to establish "dedicated townships or special zones" will change the demographic makeup of the territory and "will be in violation of UN resolutions".
"There is a very clear direction that there can't be any demographic change, there can't be any step that would alter the makeup of Jammu and Kashmir," she added.
There have been strong protests in the Valley over the Narendra Modi government's plan to resettle the Pandits, who left the state following the outbreak of militancy in the early 1990s.
The protests strated after Home Minister Rajnath Singh had asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to identify land for "composite townships" for the Pandits.
The proposal raised questions on whether these townships will exclusively house Pandits, with separatist leaders drawing parallels with the Israeli settlements in Palestine.
Mr Sayeed, who is running the government in coalition with the BJP, said he disapproved the idea of separate settlements. "If it happens, everyone will stay together. It is a symbol of our diversity," he had said in the state assembly.
Mr Singh, however, had indicated that there will be no rollback of the plan. "Whatever decision was taken by the central government remains the same," he said.