NEW DELHI: India has rejected Pakistan’s “repeated references” to Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations asserting that the region “was, is, and will always be an integral part of India.” It condemned the nation for using the platform for its “parochial and divisive agenda.”
“India is compelled to note that the delegate of Pakistan has yet again resorted to unwarranted remarks on the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Such repeated references neither validate their illegal claims nor justify their state-sponsored cross-border terrorism,” India’s permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said at the Security Council.
India further termed Pakistan’s claims over J&K as “illegal” and called for it to vacate the region.
“Pakistan continues to illegally occupy the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which it must vacate,” he said.
“We would advise Pakistan not to try to divert attention of this forum.” India, he noted, would not engage in a detailed response but made its position clear. “India will refrain from exercising a more elaborate Right of Reply,” he concluded.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s former foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua, had raised the issue of J&K during an informal gathering marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, attracting a strong response from India.
The ministry of external affairs had also rejected Pakistan’s allegations of its involvement in the Balochistan train hijack.
“We strongly reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan. The whole world knows where the epicentre of global terrorism lies. Pakistan should look inwards instead of shifting the blame for its own internal problems and failures on to others,” the MEA had said.