Pakistan says PM Modi crossed "red line" by referencing Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
Highlights
- Pakistan says PM Modi crossed "red line" by referencing Balochistan
- Incorrect, says India in sharp rebuttal
- PM referred to human rights abuses by Pak in restive province
India has told off Pakistan for alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "crossed a red line" by referring to Islamabad's human rights abuses in the large restive province of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
Pakistan said today that it will complain about the speech at the United Nations. "It is the violation of the UN Charter...He (Modi) crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan," said Nafees Zakaria, a spokesperson in Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.
"I find this extraordinary coming from a senior functionary of Pakistan that recognizes no red lines in its own diplomacy. Pakistan's record of cross border terrorism and infiltration is at the heart of the problems in the region today," said Vikas Swarup in the Foreign Ministry.
On Monday, PM Modi sharply changed the tone of his policy of Pakistan by talking of atrocities committed by it in Balochistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. His comments were made after Paksitani premier Nawaz Sharif accused India's security forces of unrestrained force in trying to quell what he described as "a freedom movement" in Kashmir.
India has objected fiercely to those comments as well as Mr Sharif's lionizing of Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old terrorist, who was shot in the Kashmir Valley on July 8, triggering a huge backlash against security personnel from enraged mobs. Nearly 60 people have died and over 5,000 have been injured since then in clashes that India accuses Pakistan of inciting and funding.
India today also reiterated that Pakistan's offer for talks on Kashmir is unacceptable. Mr Swarup said that any conversation must be centered on Pakistan's "cessation of cross-border terrorism" and "incitement to violence and terrorism" in Kashmir.