India on Thursday hit back at Pakistan, saying the “glorification” of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani at the UN General Assembly showed Islamabad’s “attachment to terrorism”.
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In his nearly 20-minute speech, almost half of which was focussed on Kashmir, Sharif had hailed Wani – who was killed on July 8 by the Indian forces resulting in tensions in the Valley – as a “young leader” and the “symbol” of the Kashmiris’ freedom movement.
At a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup, when asked whether cancelling the Indus pact was an option, said: “Eventually any cooperative arrangement requires goodwill and cooperation on both sides”.
Nawaz Sharif further said that peace between India and Pakistan could not be achieved as long as the Kashmir dispute is not resolved.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has presented a dossier containing details of violations in Kashmir to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. On the contrary, Swarup said that everyone talked about terrorism as a growing menace.
“When Pakistan suffered a terror attack, then India offered sympathy and also aided them”.
India also brought up Pakistan’s nuclear arms issue, and said its nuclear proliferation record has been marred by “deception and deceit”, even though it spoke of restraint. He sought a United Nations fact-finding mission to Kashmir “so that those guilty of these atrocities are punished”.
In his speech, the Pakistan PM said on the Kashmir issue: “Peace between India and Pakistan can not be finally achieved without resolution of the Kashmir dispute”.
India and Pakistan signed the Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, in 1960.
“It is in the interest of Pakistan to act swiftly against terrorist who they harbour” he said while referring to the attack on the Uri Army camp in which 18 soldiers were killed.
India has blamed the cross-border militant assault on Pakistan-based militants. Not surprisingly, Sharif reiterated his country’s “concern” for people of Kashmir while at the same time accusing India of oppressing Kashmiris. He said the office of the Nepalese Prime Minister has issued a statement rejecting these false claims.
He further demanded an independent inquiry and a United Nations fact finding mission to investigate the situation in Kashmir.
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Continuing his intense lobbying efforts this week at the UN, Sharif in his speech called for global intervention in Kashmir saying: “The worldwide community ignores the danger of rising tensions in South Asia, at its own peril”.
