GOVT HITS OUT AT UNGA CHIEF OVER VALLEY REMARKS

India on Friday described as “unwarranted” and “regrettable” the remarks by UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir that Pakistan should raise the Kashmir issue more forcefully and that all parties should refrain from steps which affect the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Bozkir, a former Turkish diplomat who assumed office last September, made the comments at a press interaction with Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Thursday. Bozkir, the first Turkish national to preside over the General Assembly, was on an official visit to Pakistan during which he also met Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“We express our strong opposition to the unwarranted references made with respect to the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir by the President of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA) Volkan Bozkir during his recent visit to Pakistan,” said external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. Bozkir’s remarks that “Pakistan is ‘duty bound’ to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN more strongly are unacceptable... and surely diminishes his standing on the global platform,” he added.

China blames UK for Kashmir crisis

China has blamed Britain for the problems in Kashmir, and for creating a Hindu-muslim divide in the troubled region.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, lashed out at Britain, quoting an opinion piece in Xinhua, China’s official news agency, published earlier this month. “If British India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, then Kashmir has been the biggest crack in it when the crown finally fell over on that land,” Zhao tweeted.