Pakistan denounces Sushma’s speech as ‘litany of falsehoods’
islamabad — Islamabad has branded an address by India’s foreign minister to the UN in which she accused Pakistan of terrorism in disputed Kashmir as a “litany of falsehoods”.
Tensions between the longtime rivals have spiked over a recent attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based militants ‘without proper investigation’.
Addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said: “Pakistan remains in denial. It persists in the belief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets.
“My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream. Let me
Jammu and Kashmir never was and can never be an integral part of India. It is a disputed territory
Foreign Office of Pakistan
state unequivocally that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.”
Pakistan responded by calling Swaraj’s speech a “litany of falsehoods” that distorted history, and denied its forces had aided the army base attack.
“These allegations are designed principally to deflect global attention from the brutalities being perpetrated by India’s over half a million occupation force against innocent and unarmed Kashmiri children, women and men,” said a statement by its foreign office released late on Monday.
“Jammu and Kashmir never was and can never be an integral part of India. It is a disputed territory, the final status of which has yet to be determined in accordance with several resolutions of the UN Security Council.”
More than 100 people have been killed by Indian forces in ongoing unrest in Kashmir since July 8 when a young militant leader was shot dead by Indian soldiers, sparking one of the deadliest bouts of violence to hit the region in decades. —