At UN, Indian And Pakistani Delegates Spar Over Kashmir, Other Issues

UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2022 ) :Pakistani and Indian delegates engaged in a fresh verbal duel at the United Nations on Tuesday, after Pakistan's Ambassador Munir Akram drew world community's attention to the threat posed to South Asia's peace and security by India's 'aggressive and expansionist' regime, and highlighted New Delhi's grave human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian delegate, Ms. Subashashini, reacted to Ambassador Akram's sharp statement during a debate in the UN General Assembly's First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security matters.

The Indian delegate claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter of India, and accused Pakistan of involvement in terrorism. She also urged Pakistan to concern itself with "disturbing conditions" of minorities and women in its country.

Exercising his right of reply, Pakistan's delegate Gul Qaiser Sarwani, rejected India's claim that Jammu and Kashmir was its part, saying the United Nations maps show the territory Kashmir as a "disputed territory." "The biggest falsehood that we just heard is that Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India," the Pakistani delegate said, adding, "This is a legal fiction." Under the terms of the U.N. resolutions, the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir is to be determined by its people through a UN-supervised plebiscite, Sarwani said, pointing out that India had accepted this resolution and was bound to comply with it in accordance with UN Charter's Article 25.

In Kashmir, he added, the oldest United Nations peace-keeping force (UNMOGIP) is deployed along the Line of Control (LOC) in the disputed region..

"If India has any respect for international law and moral courage, it will end its reign of terror, withdraw its troops and let the Kashmiris freely decide their future in accordance with the Security Council resolutions.

.." Aggressors, colonizers and occupiers often attempt to justify their suppression of legitimate struggles for self-determination and freedom by portraying them as "terrorism", Sarwani said.

"India," he said, "is the very epitome of this approach." Noting that the Indian delegate did not address the facts presented by Pakistan regarding its destabilizing arms build-up and aggressive military policies, Sarwani said, "Let me r-emphasize that the issues my delegation raised are completely relevant to this Committee's work, as they carry grave implications for regional and international peace and security. " But obviously the Indian delegation, he said, would not want this body to scrutinize the overwhelming deployment of India's conventional and non-conventional capabilities against Pakistan.

"Pakistan has been and will continue to highlight these issues and India's 'state terrorism' against the people of Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)." "India," he said, "is the very epitome of this approach." As for comments regarding minorities, Sarwani said India would do well to reflect on the deeply troubling trajectory their state is embarked upon, rather than indulging in "patent falsehoods" about Pakistan.

"Today," he said, "India is being guided by a supremacist ideology that has mainstreamed Islamophobia and bigotry against minorities, particularly Muslims in its political discourse.

"In today's incredibly intolerant India, the 200 million strong Muslim minority faces frequent lynching by 'cow vigilantes'; pogroms by RSS thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizenship laws to disenfranchise Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy mosques and the rich Muslim heritage of India."