File photo: PM Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Kathmandu, Nepal
United Nations:
India has strongly dismissed Pakistan's raising of the Jammu and Kashmir issue at multiple fora in the UN, asserting that the references are "totally out of context" and constitute a "clear interference" in its internal affairs.
India also asserted that Kashmir is, has always been and will remain an integral part of India.
In one of the Right of Replies exercised by India to respond to comments by Pakistan's envoy to the UN, First Secretary in the Indian Mission to the UN, Abhishek Singh suggested that Pakistan should refrain from using the Right of Reply and instead "use the right of introspection" to think about the direction in which the country is moving.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi first raised the issue of Kashmir during a UN General Assembly plenary session on the Report of the Secretary General on the Work of the Organisation.
She said that consultations with Kashmiris, who are an integral part of the Kashmir dispute, are essential to evolving such a peaceful solution to the dispute.
Exercising the Right of Reply, India rejected Ms Lodhi's remarks on Kashmir in its entirety. Mr Singh said the references by Pakistan are "totally out of context and constitute a clear interference in the internal affairs of India."
"It is all the more ironical that these comments come from a country which is persisting with its illegal occupation of part of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir," said Mr Singh.
Mr Singh also expressed "deep regret" that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire on a number of occasions in the past several weeks leading to loss of civilian lives on the Indian side. The Indian armed forces and para-military forces have responded to these "provocations", he said.
"Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir has enabled the people of the state to freely express their wishes and elect their representatives. These elections have been held under the scrutiny of the international media and opinion which has not faulted the electoral process," Mr Singh said, reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.
India also asserted that Kashmir is, has always been and will remain an integral part of India.
In one of the Right of Replies exercised by India to respond to comments by Pakistan's envoy to the UN, First Secretary in the Indian Mission to the UN, Abhishek Singh suggested that Pakistan should refrain from using the Right of Reply and instead "use the right of introspection" to think about the direction in which the country is moving.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi first raised the issue of Kashmir during a UN General Assembly plenary session on the Report of the Secretary General on the Work of the Organisation.
She said that consultations with Kashmiris, who are an integral part of the Kashmir dispute, are essential to evolving such a peaceful solution to the dispute.
Exercising the Right of Reply, India rejected Ms Lodhi's remarks on Kashmir in its entirety. Mr Singh said the references by Pakistan are "totally out of context and constitute a clear interference in the internal affairs of India."
"It is all the more ironical that these comments come from a country which is persisting with its illegal occupation of part of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir," said Mr Singh.
Mr Singh also expressed "deep regret" that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire on a number of occasions in the past several weeks leading to loss of civilian lives on the Indian side. The Indian armed forces and para-military forces have responded to these "provocations", he said.
"Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir has enabled the people of the state to freely express their wishes and elect their representatives. These elections have been held under the scrutiny of the international media and opinion which has not faulted the electoral process," Mr Singh said, reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India.
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