A visit by British and American military personnel to Gilgit-Baltistan region, a territory controlled by Pakistan but claimed by India as part of Jammu and Kashmir, has provoked a massive backlash in India.
Brigadier Paul Hayhurst, the Defence Advisor to British High Commissioner in Islamabad, posted pictures of himself and at least one US Air Force (USAF) personnel on the account of UK Defence in Pakistan on Thursday.
UK Defence Advisor Visits Kashmir
© Photo
A massive backlash ensued among Indian social media users, who slammed the British authorities for violating India's sovereignty.
Subsequently, the UK Defence account was suspended in India for violation of terms of X.
In January, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had lodged a "strong protest" with the British government over the visit by UK High Commissioner to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
"Such infringement of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable," MEA has told the UK authorities at the time, stressing that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh remained an "integral part" of India.
Similarly, India had strongly objected to the visit of Donald Blome, the American Ambassador in Islamabad, to the Kashmir region last October.
UK's Hypocrisy Exposed
Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, a former Indian envoy to Jordan, Libya and Malta, told Sputnik India such visits by the British officials indicated a lack of sensitivity towards New Delhi's internal matters.
Trigunayat remarked that the visit exposed the "hyprocricy" of the UK government, which has been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India.
The ex-envoy further pointed out that it was the imperialist British government which has been responsible for the 'Partition' of the Subcontinent and the overall Kashmir dispute.
"They are masters in the art of divide and deride and diplomatic delusion," stated Trigunayat.
"The whole of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and even such visits cannot change anything except becoming an irritant in bilateral ties," stressed the ex-envoy Trigunayat, reflecting the official Indian line.
US-UK Represent a Challenging Frontier for India
Commodore (retired) Seshadri Vasan, an Indian Navy veteran and a strategic affairs expert, told Sputnik India that India has been faced with a "two frontier threat" in geopolitics.
He said that it was widely acknowledged in Indian government and military circles that China represented a threat on account of the border differences with New Delhi.
"However, on another frontier, you have so-called partners such as the US and the UK. They are working silently to keep their options with respect to India open. They are seeking to use Pakistan to curtail a rising India, which is well on its way to become a dominant economic and military power," stated Vasan.
The strategic affairs expert said that the US-led strategy was reflective of western's stance during the Cold War era, when Islamabad was a US ally in the now-disbanded Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO).
"The US and the UK would like to pressure India through the Kashmir issue," he explained, adding that New Delhi would have to grapple with the "challenge" as its global stature continued to grow.
The western military personnel visit to Gilgit Baltistan took place nearly a week after the US Embassy in India hosted Kashmiri activists for an Iftar party in New Delhi.
Indian experts, including military veterans and a BJP state spokesperson, at the time slammed the US of crossing India's "red line" for inviting activists who were opposed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government's decision of abrogating Article 370 in Kashmir.
Significantly, there is a growing perception in India that US' outreach to Kashmiri dissidents is part of its strategy to weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image ahead of the Lok Sabha election this month.