Pakistan backs UN response to Indian allegations against Kashmir report

Pakistan on Wednesday supported the United Nations’ (UN) dismissal of Indian allegations against its report on the poor human rights situation in Kashmir. The first-ever UN report on alleged rights violations committed by both India and Pakistan in Kashmir released last month focuses mainly on India-held Kashmir (IHK), and accuses Indian troops of being responsible for an estimated 145 unlawful killings, far surpassing the 20 people estimated to have been killed by militant groups during that period. It also speaks of “a range of human rights abuses” in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), but notes they “are of a different calibre or magnitude and of a more structural nature”. When the report first came out, India termed it a biased account. According to the Times of India (TOI), the Indian Ministry of External Affairs rejected the report, describing it as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”, and questioned the intent in releasing such a report. It was also said to have violated India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The report came up once again at a United Nations Security council session on Children and Armed Conflict on Tuesday, when Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi made a reference to it during the session, NDTV reported.