The Ministry of External Affairs responded after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had termed PM Modi’s just concluded visit to Jammu and Kashmir as “staged.”

India has slammed Pakistan for its remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 24 visit to Jammu and Kashmir, stating Islamabad has no locus standi to comment on the visit of the Prime Minister to the Union Territory.

“In any case, I think Pakistan has no locus standi to talk about and from this perspective on what’s happening in Jammu and Kashmir,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a weekly media briefing on Thursday.

The MEA Spokesperson also took a swipe at Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for terming the visit as “staged.”

“I don't understand the word staged. It seems to indicate the visit did not take place and we are trying to show that it did. I think it's pretty clear that the reception that he got and the visuals that you saw and the development projects that he inaugurated and the changes that have happened on the ground is a very clear answer to any questions that may be raised about the Prime Minister's visit,” Bagchi said.

On April 24, Prime Minister Modi participated in the National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir. This was the first prime ministerial visit to the region after abrogation of Article 370. During the visit he addressed all gram sabhas across the country and inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of multiple development initiatives worth Rs 20,000 crore in the Union Territory.