India strongly rebuked Pakistan on Tuesday for once again raising the Jammu and Kashmir issue during a United Nations Security Council debate on peacekeeping reforms. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, asserted that the region is an integral part of India and called on Pakistan to vacate the areas it has “illegally occupied.”
India’s representative, Harish, hit back after Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister, brought up the Jammu and Kashmir issue during a UN Security Council debate on the future of peacekeeping.
Speaking at the session, Harish dismissed Pakistan’s references to Jammu and Kashmir as “unwarranted” and accused the neighboring country of attempting to “divert attention” from core discussions on peacekeeping.
He stated, “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.”
Harish further underscored that Pakistan has no legitimate claim over Jammu and Kashmir. “Pakistan continues to illegally occupy the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which it must vacate,” he said, making it clear that India would not tolerate challenges to its sovereignty at international platforms.
Rejecting Islamabad’s attempts to use the UN forum for its “parochial and divisive agenda,” Harish advised Pakistan against diverting the focus of the debate. “We would advise Pakistan not to try to divert attention of this forum,” he said, adding that India would not engage in a lengthy rebuttal. “India will refrain from exercising a more elaborate Right of Reply,” he concluded.
Last week too, India dismissed Pakistan’s allegations of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. Reaffirming its stance, India said it seeks peaceful ties but asserted that Islamabad must first create a terror-free environment for any meaningful dialogue.
