ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday rejected the new maps released by India which shows the disputed region of Kashmir divided into two parts – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The maps released by India’s Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday highlights the Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region in Ladakh, while the remaining part is in the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.

“The political maps of India, issued by the Indian Home Ministry on 2 November 2019, displaying Jammu and Kashmir region and seeking to depict parts of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir within the territorial jurisdiction of India, are incorrect, legally untenable, void and in complete violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement released on Sunday.

It added that Pakistan rejects the new version of the map which are incompatible with those approved by the United Nations.

“We reiterate that no step by India can change the “disputed” status of Jammu and Kashmir recognized by the United Nations,” excerpts from the statement read, adding that “such measures by the Government of India cannot prejudice the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”

Additionally, the Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan would continue to support the residents of Indian-administered Kashmir in exercising their right to self-determination, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Exactly three months ago, on August 5, New Delhi revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution which accorded a special status to Kashmir.

The move resulted in Islamabad downgrading its diplomatic and trade relations with India, with Pakistan on October 31 rejecting the “bifurcation” of Indian-administered Kashmir into two Union Territories (UT).

The UT is an administrative unit that is directly under the control of the central government with limited political powers to the local legislative assembly.

“The illegal and unilateral changes effected by India are in no way an “internal matter” as the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains on the agenda of the Security Council,” the FO statement read.