India hits out at Pakistan for raking up Kashmir at UNGA again, says vacate occupied region

In a befitting response to Pakistan, after it rakedup Kashmir in UN General Assembly, India slammed the nation and called on Islamabad to "take credible action against perpetrators of Mumbai terror attack."

India fielded young woman diplomat Petal Gahlot to condemn Pakistan in strong words in the right to reply at UNGA. India asked Pakistan to stop cross-border terror by shutting down terror infrastructure, vacating occupied areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and stopping human rights violations against minorities in Pakistan.

This comes after Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue in his UN General Assembly address."Global powers should convince New Delhi to accept Pakistan's offer of mutual restraint on strategic and conventional weapons," he said during his address.

As has been reiterated several times in the past, India once more demanded Pakistan take action against terrorism.

Reacting to Kakar’s statement on Jammu and Kashmir, India called Pakistan a "habitual offender" of misusing the forum to "peddle baseless and malicious propaganda against India". Indian diplomat and First Secretary at United Nations for 2nd Committee of UNGA, Petal Gahlot asked Pak to look at its own "abysmal" record on human rights.

"Pakistan has become a habitual offender when it comes to misusing this August forum to peddle baseless and malicious propaganda against India. Member states of the United Nations and other multilateral organizations are well aware that Pakistan does so to deflect the international community's attention away from its own abysmal record on human rights," Gahlot said.

he reiterated India’s stance that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir are an integral part of India and matters pertaining to the UTs of J&K and Ladakh are "purely internal to India. Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on our domestic matters..."

"As a country with one of the world's worst human rights records, particularly when it comes to minority and women's rights, Pakistan would do well to put its own house in order before venturing to point a finger at the world's largest democracy. A glaring example of the systemic violence against minorities in Pakistan was the large-scale brutality perpetrated against the minority Christian community in Jaranwala, in Pakistan's Faisalabad District in August 2023, where a total of 19 churches were gutted and 89 Christian houses were burnt down," Petal Gahlot said.

"The condition of women belonging to minority communities in Pakistan notably Hindu Sikhs and Christians remains deplorable. According to a recent report published by Pakistan's own Human Rights Commission, an estimated 1,000 women from minority communities are subjected to abduction, forced conversion and marriage in Pakistan every year. Pakistan has been the home and patron to the largest number of internationally prescribed terrorist entities and individuals in the world," she added.

"Instead of engaging in technical sophistry, we call upon Pakistan to take credible and verifiable action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks whose victims await justice even after 15 years. In order for there to be peace in South Asia, the actions that Pakistan needs to take are threefold. First, stop cross-border terrorism and shut down its infrastructure of terrorism immediately. Second, vacate Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation. And third, stop the grave and persistent human rights violations against the minorities in Pakistan, " the Indian diplomat said.

Addressing the General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Kakar had said, "Development depends on peace. Pakistan is situated in the least economically integrated region in the world. Pakistan believes that regions develop together therefore [the country] desires peaceful and productive relations with all neighbours, including India," he said.

"Pakistan desires peaceful and productive relations with all our neighbours, including India. Kashmir is the key to peace between Pakistan and India," he said.

New Delhi's stance on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has been steadfast. It has clarified that both the regions were, are and will always remain an integral part of India. Even India wants peaceful relations with Pakistan however the country has made clear that it will only be possible when Pakistan take action against terrorism breeding from its soil.

This is not the first time Pakistan has used a multilateral institution like UNGA to raise the Kashmir issue.

The relationship between India and Pakistan plunged to a new low after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to overrule the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

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