New Delhi : Hours after Pakistan raked up Kashmir issue at the United Nations, India slammed Pakistan
and highlighted its role in supporting and aiding terrorism.
Vidisha Maitra first secretary at Indian mission to UN in New York said, “If there is an item that is
unfinished on the agenda of the UN, it is that of tackling the scourge of terrorism. Pakistan is a country
which is globally recognized epicentre of terrorism, which by its own admission harbours and trains
terrorists and hails them as martyrs, and consistently persecutes its ethnic and religious minorities.”
Pakistan while speaking at the 75th anniversary of the United Nations had raked Kashmir and first
secretary’s statement was India’s right of reply to the statement.
Maitra while rejecting the references made by Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir and said, “Our
delegation had hoped that during this solemn commemoration of a shared global milestone, the General
Assembly would be spared another repetition of the baseless falsehoods that have now become a
trademark of Pakistan’s interventions on such platforms.”
“For a nation that is bereft of milestones, one can only expect a stonewalled and stymied approach to
reason, diplomacy and dialogue. What we heard today is the never-ending fabricated narrative presented
by the Pakistani representative about the internal affairs of India,” added the Indian diplomat.
Earlier, Pakistan has used terrorist groups to change the status quo in Jammu and Kashmir, which has
undermined every peace effort and impacted human rights negatively, a Barrack Obama-era diplomat
has told US lawmakers.
In a statement to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Non
-proliferation, Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign
Relations think-tank, on Monday said the situation is complex and tragic in Kashmir.
The committee will schedule a hearing on “Stemming a Receding Tide: Human Rights and Democratic
Values in Asia” on Tuesday.
There is a documented history of Pakistan-based terrorists active in Indian-administered Kashmir, and
Kashmiris and the Indian government continue to face a difficult challenge of border security and
terrorism in this region, Aryes said.
“Terrorism has undermined every effort at peace in the last two decades and continues to create
insecurity. I would also like to acknowledge the longstanding suffering of the Kashmiri Pandits, a Hindu
community-driven from their Kashmiri homeland in the early years of the insurgency at the beginning of
the 1990s,” she said.
Ayres said the Indian government revoked Article 370 last year to tackle terrorism in Jammu and
Kashmir. The move was followed by the deployment of additional troops, state-wide communications
and internet shutdown and several Kashmiri leaders were placed in detention.
More than a year on, it is hard to see improvements on that front, she said adding that the impact on
democracy and human rights has been negative.
