UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has firmly rejected India’s assertion that Jammu and Kashmir is an “integral part” of India, advocating for a UN-led plebiscite to determine the will of the Kashmiri people, as stipulated by UN Security Council resolutions.
“Jammu and Kashmir is not, never has been, and will never be an ‘integral’ part of India,” stated Pakistani delegate Ansar Shah during the General Assembly’s Special Political and Decolonization (Fourth) Committee on Tuesday.
He emphasized that the disputed status of Kashmir is recognized by the UN and the international community, responding to claims made by Indian delegate Eldos Mathew Punnoose, a counselor at India’s Mission to the UN, who accused Pakistan of misinterpreting the principle of self-determination, arguing that it does not justify undermining a member state’s territorial integrity.
The Indian delegate’s comments followed a strong statement by Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram, who characterized the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir as the “worst manifestation of modern-day colonialism” and urged the UN to advocate for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
“India is legally obligated under Article 25 of the UN Charter to implement the resolutions of the Security Council and allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to self-determination,” Ansar Shah stated, highlighting that Kashmir is being held through force, with many pro-freedom leaders imprisoned and some having died in custody under suspicious circumstances.
Shah criticized India’s approach to the dispute, noting that it has resorted to aggression against Pakistan, threatening to “take over” liberated Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while warning that Islamabad would respond decisively to any Indian aggression.
The Pakistani delegate also labeled India as the “mother” of terrorism in South Asia, accusing it of using terrorism against its neighbors as part of its hegemonic policies. “India’s campaign of targeted terrorist assassinations in third countries is now widely acknowledged,” he asserted, citing at least 22 targeted killings in Pakistan attributed to Indian agents.
Shah further claimed that India’s “terrorist franchise” has gone global, referencing an assassination in Canada and an attempted one in the United States. He cited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that his “New India comes into your home to kill you!” as evidence of the threat posed by India.
“Just yesterday, Canada expelled India’s top diplomats as ‘persons of interest’ in these criminal activities,” Shah noted, adding, “We submit: this New India is a dangerous entity.
Unless Hindutva fascism is opposed; unless India’s sense of impunity is curbed; unless India’s Muslims, Christians, and other minorities are protected from genocide; and unless the Kashmiri people are liberated from Indian colonialism, the threat of wider violence and conflict perpetuated by this state-sponsored terrorism will remain a clear and present danger.”
