India Rebukes Pakistan at UN, Demands Evacuation of Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. India urged Pakistan to refrain from derailing peace efforts and create a terror-free environment.
POK: India launched a sharp rebuke against Pakistan at the United Nations. On Tuesday, India stated that Pakistan illegally occupies a part of Jammu and Kashmir and must vacate the territory immediately. Pakistan repeatedly mentioned Jammu and Kashmir during a UN debate on peacekeeping reforms, prompting a b objection from India.
Jammu and Kashmir: An Integral Part of India
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Parthasarathi Harish, deemed Pakistan's repeated references to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir inappropriate. He reiterated that the region was, is, and always will be an integral part of India.
Pakistan Must Vacate Illegally Occupied Territory
Harish explicitly stated that Pakistan must relinquish its illegally occupied Indian territory. He asserted that Pakistan's repeated false claims neither legitimize its illegal occupation nor justify the cross-border terrorism it supports.
Pakistan Urged Not to Misuse the Forum
India's Permanent Representative to the UN stated that Pakistan should not misuse this forum to advance its narrow and divisive agenda. This b response followed a statement by Pakistan's Prime Minister's Special Assistant, Syed Tariq Fatemi, who raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue during a UN Security Council discussion on peacekeeping.
Previous Rebukes of Pakistan
India has previously reprimanded Pakistan. Last week, during a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Pakistan made false allegations of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, which India categorically rejected.
Pakistan Must Create a Terror-Free Environment
Indian envoy Kshitij Tyagi rebuked Pakistan, stating that Pakistani leaders and representatives are engaged in spreading falsehoods about their military-terrorist nexus. He reiterated that India desires normal neighborly relations with Pakistan, but Islamabad must create a terror-free environment for this to occur.
Statement by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar
On March 5th, at the Chatham House think tank in London, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar clearly stated that vacating Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) would provide a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
The Foreign Minister said that India has made significant progress towards a Kashmir solution. He described the removal of Article 370 as the first step, restoring development, economic activity, and social justice in Kashmir as the second, and holding elections there as the third crucial step.
