India's Permanent Representative to the UN called Islamabad the "epicenter" of terrorism.(File photo)
India has rebuffed Pakistan's attempt to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, by denouncing Islamabad as the global "epicenter" of terrorism and accused it of trying to destabilize the state.
"Pakistan has created terrorist outfits against India. This monster is now devouring its own creator," Ajit Kumar, India's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, told the Council meeting in the Swiss city on Wednesday.
Earlier, Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had called for the Council's intervention in Kashmir, asserting that the "human rights and fundamental freedom of innocent Kashmiris are being trampled upon."
Mr Hamid denied there was any terrorism threat in Kashmir outright and claimed that Islamabad's involvement was only in providing "political, moral and diplomatic support".
Rejecting these assertions, Mr Kumar said: "The fundamental reason for disturbances in parts of Jammu and Kashmir is cross-border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan."
Pakistan has been carrying out, "an intense campaign to destabilize" the state through "infiltration and cross-border terrorism, inciting, promoting and glorifying violence", he said.
Calling terrorism "the grossest violation of human rights", Mr Kumar added that 'Members will recognise the irony of a nation that has established a well-earned reputation of being a global epicentre of terrorism holding forth on human rights. For the past two decades, the most wanted terrorists of the world have found succour and sustenance in Pakistan."
The Pakistan minister made an appeal to Indians to be aware of the human rights situation in Kashmir.
"We call upon all the mechanism of the Council and the Indian community to remain seized of the grave and systematic violation of human rights and fundamental freedom in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir."
Reacting to Mr Hamid's claims that Kashmir was an international issue under Security Council resolutions, Mr Kumar said: "Pakistan's unwarranted references to UN Security Council resolutions are grossly misleading as Pakistan was required to vacate the parts of the state of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal and forced occupation."
"The robust and mature Indian democracy proved once again that it has sufficiently strong and adequate mechanisms to redress any internal difficulties even if they are incited from outside," the Permanent Representative said.
Mr Kumar asserted the fact that over 99 per cent of the high school students in the state have written their exams indicated the return of normalcy, he added.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had fast-tracked a $12 billion development package for the state.
Meanwhile, Mr Hamid brought up the request by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to send a team to the state.