India slams Pakistan for raking up Kashmir issue at UN

India tore into Pakistan after its UN envoy raised the Kashmir issue here, saying no amount of rhetoric and propaganda can change the fact that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are and will always be an "inalienable" part of the country.

Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur's remarks came after Pakistan's Permanent Representative at the UN Munir Akram spoke about Jammu and Kashmir in his statement at the UNGA meeting.

"The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. No amount of misinformation, rhetoric or propaganda from any country can change that fact,” Mathur said at the UN General Assembly plenary on ‘Use of the veto’on Wednesday.

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Pakistan consistently rakes up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at various UN platforms, irrespective of the agenda and topic of discussion at the meetings.

New Delhi has repeatedly emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.

On Monday, India slammed Pakistan after it raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at a Security Council meeting, prompting India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj to assert that she would not waste the Council’s time by responding to such “mischievous” remarks.

“Lastly, this august forum has today heard some mischievous remarks by a permanent representative arising purely out of ignorance and lack of an understanding on the basic facts of decolonisation,” Kamboj had said.

“I will not be wasting the time of this Council in responding to those remarks. Our advice to that delegation is please refer to our numerous rights of reply that we have expressed in the past,” she said.

Kamboj’s stern response came at the UN Security Council open debate on “Maintenance of international peace and security: Effective multilateralism through the defence of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations” chaired by Russia, President of the Council for the month of April.

With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presiding over the debate, Akram had referred to Jammu and Kashmir in his statement.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

India’s decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.

India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.