Bambawale responded that the crisis in Kashmir was India’s internal matter and that Pakistan had no locus standi, Swarup today said.
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“Terrorism is terrorism”, foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s foreign secretary had summoned India’s high commissioner, Gautam Bambawale, and issued a demarche – a formal diplomatic protest – over the killings in Kashmir. He mentioned that “it is the UN’s responsibility to intervene in the matter and get the issue resolved” adding that “India can not call the present situation of IHK an internal matter”.
Up to 3,000 people gathered at a rally in the Pakistani Kashmir capital Muzaffarabad, where militant leaders vowed to launch a civil disobedience campaign on the Indian side of the contested territory.
Pakistan’s attempt to fish in Kashmir’s troubled waters has prompted India to return to its old stand that “talks and terror can not go hand-in-hand”.
However, he said, we are continuing to address some of our concerns about where Pakistan needs to move next in terms of combating terrorist threats.
They further said that India, which claims to be the largest democracy in the world, recently killed 36 Kashmiris and injured 1,400 to quell the protest.
Indiaon Mondayurged Pakistan to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of its neighbours. The two rivals have fought two of their three subsequent wars over Kashmir, and each administers a portion of the region. However, its charity wing Jamaat-ud-Dawa still operates, even though both the US and the United Nations also declared it a terrorist organization, describing it as a radical Islamist group.
“We Pakistani should support our Kashmiri brothers”.
Asked if apart from Pakistan, any other Muslim country has raised the Kashmir situation with India, he said there has been a statement by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in this regard.
The meeting reiterated the condemnation of the killing of Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani and many other civilians by the Indian military and paramilitary forces.
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The Indian government has long demanded that Pakistan arrest Saeed, but when he has been detained, his incarceration has been brief, and Pakistani courts, including its Supreme Court, have cleared him of terrorism charges. He said it is in the United States long-term national interests to support Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism, violent extremism, and build a more stable and democratic society.
