India has strongly criticised Pakistan at the United Nations, accusing it of continuing to illegally occupy Jammu and Kashmir and demanding its immediate vacating.India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, made these remarks on Monday during the UN Security Council’s Open Debate on Advancing Adaptability in UN Peace Operations.“Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will always be an integral part of India. Pakistan continues to illegally occupy the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which it must vacate,” Harish said.
Harish’s strong response followed Pakistan’s attempt to raise the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during the UNSC open debate. He said that India felt compelled to address the “unwarranted remarks” made by the Pakistani delegate regarding the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Such repeated references neither validate their illegal claims nor justify their state-sponsored cross-border terrorism,” Harish said adding that “we would advise Pakistan not to try to divert the attention of this forum to drive their parochial and divisive agenda.”
He added that India would refrain from offering a more detailed Right of Reply.
Relations between India and Pakistan soured significantly after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019, revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and dividing the region into two Union Territories.
India has consistently said its desire for normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan, provided there is an environment free from terror, hostility, and violence.Earlier in February, India condemned Pakistan’s remarks on Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council, calling them “baseless and malicious.”
In his response before the Council, Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi accused Pakistan of spreading falsehoods promoted by its military-terrorist complex and of undermining the credibility of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by using it as a platform for such propaganda.“It is regrettable to see Pakistan’s so-called leaders and delegates continuing to dutifully spread falsehoods handed down by its military-terrorist complex. Pakistan is making a mockery of the OIC by abusing it as its mouthpiece… The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” Tyagi said, citing economic progress in the region since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
With PTI inputs
