India condemns US Rep. Ilhan Omar's PoK visit, terms it 'narrow-minded politics'

Calling the kind of politics practised by US congresswoman Ilhan Omar 'narrow-minded', the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday condemned her visit to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as violative of India's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The remarks came during an MEA briefing by spokesperson Arindam Bagchi where he was answering a question on the US representative's visit to Pakistan.

"We have noted that she (Ilhan Omar) has visited a part of the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, that is currently illegally occupied by Pakistan," Bagchi said.

"Let me just say that if such a politician wishes to practice a narrow-minded politics at home, that's her business, but violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty in its pursuit makes this ours and we think the visit is condemnable," the MEA spokesperson added.

Ilhan Omar has been on a visit to Pakistan since early Wednesday and has met former Prime Minister Imran Khan among other engagements as well as visited a part of PoK.

The 37-year-old Omar belongs to the Democrats and represents the State of Minnesota in Congress. She is one of the two Muslim women elected to the US Congress in 2018.

Born in Somalia, she and her family fled the country's civil war when she was eight. The family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before coming to the United States in the 1990s. In 1997, she moved to Minneapolis with her family.

During the MEA briefing, the spokesperson also condemned the recent school attacks in Afghanistan's Kabul saying that "As regards Afghanistan, we have seen some of the terrorist attacks, we have always been forthright in our condemnation of terrorist attacks."

"We haven't issued a formal statement yet. We are looking at what exactly have been the developments there, but let me emphasize that we have certainly condemned all terrorist attacks, particularly in Afghanistan and I think we reiterate that stand," the MEA spokesperson said.

( With inputs from ANI )