India slams Pakistan at UN for its support to terror groups in J&K

Said that Islamabad's unabated support for terror groups is the main challenge to safeguard human rights of citizens in the state

Reacting sharply to Pakistan raking up Kashmir issue at the UN, India has asserted that Islamabad's unabated support for terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir is the main challenge to safeguard human rights of its citizens in the state.

"Pakistan's continued support for terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir is the main challenge to protecting the human rights of our citizens in the State," First Secretary in the Indian Mission to the UN Mayank Joshi said in the Right of Reply here yesterday.

"In spite of this, India remains committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan in an atmosphere free from terror and violence," he said.

He was responding to Pakistan's envoy to UN Maleeha Lodhi raising the Kashmir issue and right of self-determination of the Kashmiris in the UN General Assembly's Third Committee debate on rights of people to self-determination.

In her statement to the committee, Lodhi had repeated Pakistan's call for UNSC resolutions to be implemented in the state and said fulfilling promise of self-determination to the Kashmiri people is "indispensable" to establishing lasting peace and stability in South Asia.

Joshi termed her comments as "totally out of context and baseless" and said the misuse of the UN forum by "making tendentious references to the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir constitutes a clear interference in the internal affairs of India."

Hitting back at Pakistan, visiting MP Rattan Lal Kataria rejected the "unwarranted" references to Kashmir, saying it is "ironical" that comments on Kashmir and self-determination "come from a country which is persisting with its illegal occupation of part of the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir and consistently denying human rights of the occupied territory."

"Pakistan should first stop human rights violations in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir and ensure the right of self-determination for the victims before sermonizing others on it," he said in his statement.