With tensions between India and Pakistan running high over an attack on an Indian air base, New Delhi has alluded to the possibility of revisiting a crucial water agreement with Pakistan, but a high-ranking United Nations official cautioned against getting caught up in “water-war rhetoric”.
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The attack in the frontier town of Uri – the latest in a decades-long dispute over Kashmir, claimed and held in part by both India and Pakistan – has raised new fears of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
He described allegations against Pakistan as “India’s long-time habit”, the TV channel said.
He said the world leaders expressed sorrow over the use of force in Occupied Kashmir and escalation of tension between Pakistan and India.
“This exercise, High Mark, is not done overnight just like that”, he said, describing it as “a routine training matter”.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said the UN Secretary General even did not mention a dossier reportedly handed over to him by Nawaz and instead made it clear that he would not intervene in the Kashmir issue that he wants resolved bilaterally.
Congress termed Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif ‘s UNGA speech as “admission of guilt” for its focus on Kashmir while ignoring the Uri terror attack.
Pakistan, as per the treaty, controls the western rivers of the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum that flow from Jammu and Kashmir. The countries have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.
“Iss Indian ko nikalo (remove this Indian)”, were the words directed at Namrata Brar, a journalist with NDTV, and she was asked to leave the room at the Roosevelt Hotel, where the Pakistan Foreign Secretary was to address the media on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, NDTV reported.
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At least 78 civilians have been killed and thousands wounded in more than two months of clashes between protesters and Indian security forces there.
