Russia backs New Delhi again, says 'abrogation of Article 370 sovereign decision' of India

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NEW DELHI: Russia once again backed India's decision to revoke the special status for Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating into two Union Territories.

“Abrogation of Article 370 is sovereign decision of the Indian government. All matters between India and Pakistan can be resolved through Simla agreement. It is an internal matter of India,” said Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev on Wednesday.

Russia was one of the first nations to support India's decision to abrogate Article 370 and 35A.

The Rusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on August 9 had said that the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation was "carried out within the framework of the Indian Constitution" and reiterated it's support to the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan. 

"Moscow expects that India and Pakistan will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region due to the change by Delhi in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two union territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India. We hope that the parties involved will not allow a new aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of the decisions," said the Russian MoFA had said.

Recalling the Simla and Lahore accord, the ministry said, "We hope that the differences between them will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999."

After repealing the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Parliament passed the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, bifurcating the state into two Union Territories (UT) – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.