India’s representative to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday slammed Pakistan for its “unwarranted” reference to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and that no amount of “empty rhetoric” from the neighbouring country will change the fact that J&K is an integral and inalienable part of India.
India’s representative to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday slammed Pakistan for its “unwarranted” reference to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and that no amount of “empty rhetoric” from the neighbouring country will change the fact that J&K is an integral and inalienable part of India. Exercising its right of reply, India’s First Secretary Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu added that such “cynical attempts” have failed in the past.
“While we are having this serious debate for the first time in a decade on an issue that is of importance to all of us, we have witnessed how one delegation has used this platform to make an unwarranted reference to the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Such cynical attempts have failed in the past,” Bayyapu said.
“I would like to place on record and reiterate that the state of J&K is an integral and inalienable part of India. No amount of empty rhetoric from Pakistan will change this reality,” he added. India’s response came during a discussion on ‘The Responsibility to Protect and the Prevention of Genocide, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes against Humanity’.
India’s response comes about a week after Pakistan welcomed a recent UN report on human rights violations in J&K and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had said the country was “ready to facilitate the Commission of Inquiry to visit” PoK provided India was ready to allow them access to Jammu and Kashmir. Adding that Pakistan had “nothing to hide”, Faisal had said, “India must not shy away from this international obligation if it has nothing to hide!”
The UN report had stated: “The focus of the report is on the situation of human rights in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir from July 2016 to April 2018 over which period allegations of widespread and serious human rights violations were received, notably excessive use of force by Indian security forces that led to numerous civilian casualties.” The report suggested an international probe into the allegations.
India, however, had described the report as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”. It said the government is “deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution.”
“While we are having this serious debate for the first time in a decade on an issue that is of importance to all of us, we have witnessed how one delegation has used this platform to make an unwarranted reference to the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Such cynical attempts have failed in the past,” Bayyapu said.
“I would like to place on record and reiterate that the state of J&K is an integral and inalienable part of India. No amount of empty rhetoric from Pakistan will change this reality,” he added. India’s response came during a discussion on ‘The Responsibility to Protect and the Prevention of Genocide, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes against Humanity’.
India’s response comes about a week after Pakistan welcomed a recent UN report on human rights violations in J&K and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had said the country was “ready to facilitate the Commission of Inquiry to visit” PoK provided India was ready to allow them access to Jammu and Kashmir. Adding that Pakistan had “nothing to hide”, Faisal had said, “India must not shy away from this international obligation if it has nothing to hide!”
The UN report had stated: “The focus of the report is on the situation of human rights in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir from July 2016 to April 2018 over which period allegations of widespread and serious human rights violations were received, notably excessive use of force by Indian security forces that led to numerous civilian casualties.” The report suggested an international probe into the allegations.
India, however, had described the report as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”. It said the government is “deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution.”