He said Pakistan will continue to support voices in Kashmir for self-determination. India said Pakistan’s “glorifying” remarks about Burhan Wani, slain commander of militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, showed its continued attachment to terrorism.
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Ban Ki-moon’s office has said that the UN Chief’s good offices are available to discuss Kashmir only if both India and Pakistan request for it, a clear message that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one between the two nations and should be solved by them only.
Swarup said India has asked Pakistan national finger print database to match fingerprints of Pak terrorists involved in the Uri attack, which Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is denying.
India has accused Pakistan of being behind a deadly attack on an army base in the disputed Kashmir region on Sunday in which 18 soldiers were killed and said it had the right to respond when and where it chose.
Indian diplomat Eenam Gambhir described that as a “hypocritical sermon”.
The statement came hours after Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the United Nations general assembly and spoke out against alleged human rights abuses by Indian forces during the current unrest in Kashmir that has claimed 86 lives.
She also noted that the land of Taxila, which lies 20 miles north-west of Islamabad, an important and great learning place of ancient times, “is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism”.
Amid strains in the ties over Kashmir issue and the recent Uri attack, India has now not ruled out the option of scrapping the Indus water treaty with Pakistan.
“Sharif repeated a Pakistani call on the United Nations and the worldwide community to investigate atrocities it alleges have been committed by Indian forces in Kashmir”.
India has said it would only discuss terrorism-related issues, whereas Pakistan wants a wider agenda that would, among other things, discuss the Kashmir question. He added that Delhi would never succumb to Islamabad’s “tactics and blackmail” and ridiculed Sharif for talking about peace while holding a gun.
In his speech at 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Sharif had glorified Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani whom he hailed as a “young leader murdered by Indian forces” who has emerged as the “symbol of the latest Kashmiri Intifada, a popular and peaceful freedom movement”.
Akbar, addressing a press conference moments after Nawaz’s speech at India’s permanent mission, remarked it was very odd that Pakistan had termed the “terrorist” a “hero”.
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“Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism”. This organisation is widely acknowledged as a terrorist group internationally.
