India, March 6 -- India has largely resolved the Kashmir issue by scrapping the region's special status, restoring economic activity and holding elections, and the matter will be settled when Pakistan returns the "stolen part of Kashmir" under its illegal occupation, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said.

Jaishankar's remarks, made at an event hosted by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London on Wednesday evening, prompted a pushback on Thursday from Pakistan, which trotted out its usual position that Jammu and Kashmir is disputed territory whose final status is to be determined through a plebiscite.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah too weighed in on the subject, saying during a debate in the local...