Pak-sponsored terrorism is root of Kashmir crisis: India at UNHRC

J&K IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF INDIA AND WILL REMAIN SO, DESPITE PAKISTAN’S USE OF TERRORISM AS A STATE POLICY FOR TERRITORIAL GAINS

UNITEDNATIONS: Cross-border terrorism from Pakistan is at the root of the current situation in Kashmir and it has also victimised the people of the part of the state occupied by Pakistan, India said on Tuesday, dismissing Islamabad’s attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva.

“Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inseparable part of India and will always remain so”, despite Pakistan’s use of “terrorism as a state policy” for territorial acquisition, Sumit Seth, a first secretary in India’s UN Mission in Geneva, said while exercising the right of reply to Pakistan’s allegations about India.

“The present situation in Jammu and Kashmir is the direct result of sustained crossborder terrorism emanating from Pakistan,” he said.

“The high number of casualties sustained by Indian security forces is a reflection of the tremendous amount of restraint displayed by them under these difficult circumstances.”

Pakistan’s permanent representative in Geneva, Farukh Amil, raked up the Kashmir issue while taking exception to UN Human Right Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-hussein criticising India and Pakistan on Monday for not allowing a fact-finding team to the Indian state and the part occupied by Pakistan.

Seth in his rejoinder said India had “a robust institutional framework to ensure adherence to the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights of the people in Kashmir”.