Colombo: After the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka claimed that the island nation's President, Maithripala Sirisena, has acknowledged Jammu and Kashmir as a "disputed territory", Colombo on Thursday called out Islamabad's lies and clarified that the president "did not make any such comments" on the issue.
The Pakistan High Commission, in its press statement dated August 21, said their High Commissioner Major General Shahid Ahmad Hashmat had called on Sirisena and apprised him on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of India's historic move to change the constitutional status of the region.It also claimed that Srisena offered to mediate in the matter in order to initiate dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi.
"The President acknowledged that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and expressed his desire that this dispute should be resolved according to wishes of Kashmiris under UN Resolutions. He also offered Sri Lanka's mediation and facilitation of dialogue between Pakistan and India to re-activate the SAARC forum," the statement read.
However, the Sri Lankan President's Media Division asserted that such remarks were never made by Srisena, who gave "a patient hearing to the Pakistan High Commissioner's views and stated that Sri Lanka's interest is to see the growth of regional cooperation and friendship".
"The attention of the President's Media Division has been drawn to a media release issued by the Pakistan High Commission on the High Commissioner's meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena on August 20, 2019," the statement by PMD mentioned.
