India rebuts Pakistan at UN, says J&K and Ladakh are integral parts
India has hit back at Pakistan at the United Nations, strongly rejecting its remarks on Jammu and Kashmir and saying the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always remain "integral and inalienable" parts of India.
Exercising its Right of Reply at the UN General Assembly Third Committee meeting on Friday after a Pakistani delegate raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, India said Pakistan was trying to divert attention from its own internal situation and from what it described as repression in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Bhavika Mangalanandan said India "categorically" rejected Pakistan’s remarks. "We all know that the so-called civilian governments in Pakistan serve at the mercy of their Army and rarely complete their terms," she said.
Referring to Pakistani leader Imran Khan, she said a "former Prime Minister continues to remain in jail, even as his health is reported to be fast deteriorating." She also said the erstwhile ruling party had not been allowed to contest elections.
"Instead of addressing domestic discontent, Pakistan seeks to distract by fomenting instability in India and sponsoring, inciting, abetting, and financing cross-border terrorism in my country for more than three decades," she said. "The only outstanding matter is a vacation of the territory Pakistan holds under illegal and forcible occupation. We heard Pakistani laments regarding the people of Jammu and Kashmir."
Mangalanandan said this was "a desperate attempt by Pakistan to mask the ongoing tragedy in Rawalakot and its other cities, the killing of hundreds of civilians, and the brutal crackdown across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, for merely demanding bread, electricity and human dignity". India called this "unsurprising", saying it was the natural outcome of prolonged Pakistani military occupation of the region by force and unending repression.
She also said, "When any free media is banned from covering such news in Pakistan, the evidence becomes undeniable for the global community that only the writ of the Form 47 government and their masters and the Army headquarters runs large," referring to a term used for allegations of rigging and manipulation in Pakistan’s 2024 general elections.
India told the committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, that Jammu and Kashmir, in contrast, held Assembly elections in 2024, with a massive turnout followed by a peaceful transfer of power to an elected government. "The contrast could not have been starker. The only human rights violation taking place in Kashmir is perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Pakistan and their terrorist proxies. Propaganda does not become fact through repetition. Pakistan would serve its people better by confronting its own fault lines and building its economy than by coveting the territory of others," she said.
In its reply at the UN, India rejected Pakistan’s comments on Jammu and Kashmir, reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India, and accused Islamabad of using the issue to deflect attention from unrest at home and its actions in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
