- The Envoy believes that India’s democratic demands are in vain under the RSS-BJP regime.
- He claims that India funds terrorist groups like TTP and BLA to destabilize Pakistan.
- Pakistan’s measured response helped avoid escalation after Indian aggression.
Pakistan launched a strong rebuttal against India at the United Nations, denouncing what it called New Delhi’s “recycled distortions scenario” on Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at the 4th meeting of the commission on decolonization issues, Asif Khan, diplomat of Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said India’s attempts to mislead the world about the status of the disputed territory had failed to hide the reality of its occupation and abuses.
“I am compelled to take the floor to respond to the misinformation-laden remarks of the representative of India. Every year, India comes to this august forum with a recycled script of distortions. Today is no different,” Khan said while opening his statement.
He asserted that “the United Nations has not only the right, but also the obligation to discuss the Jammu and Kashmir dispute”, adding that the territory “has never been an integral part of India” and remains “an internationally recognized disputed territory whose final status must be determined by a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations”.
Khan reminded the forum that “India itself had brought the matter before the Council, but now refuses to honor its solemn commitments under international law and the United Nations Charter.”
Referring to the 1960 Declaration, he said it “decrees that ‘all peoples’ subject to foreign subjugation have the right to self-determination” – a right also enshrined in the United Nations Charter and major international covenants.
Highlighting the scale of Indian militarization in the region, he said: “In occupied Jammu and Kashmir, India maintains one of the densest military occupations in the world, deploying nearly 900,000 troops against an unarmed civilian population. »
He accused India of “terming the just struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as terrorism” while refusing to “introspect to find the real reasons behind the mass resistance in the occupied territory”.
“India’s rollback of its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, its intransigence in denying the Kashmiri people their fundamental rights, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, mass incarcerations, sexual violence and population engineering are the real reasons for the indigenous freedom movement,” he said.
“Since August 2019, India has accelerated its colonial project, in flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. »
Khan also accused India of “seeking to divert attention from its own notorious conduct, thuggish behavior and perpetration of terrorism”, calling it “the leading sponsor of state terrorism in the region, with a dubious distinction when it comes to extraterritorial assassinations”.
He accused India of financing and directing “terrorist operatives such as the TTP, BLA and the Majeed Brigade, whose attacks have killed thousands of innocent civilians in Pakistan.”
He called India’s claim to be the world’s largest democracy “hollow”, saying it had become “the world’s largest producer of disinformation and intolerance”.
He said the ruling RSS-BJP ideology had “institutionalized Islamophobia and turned the persecution of minorities into state policy”, adding that “many international human rights organizations continue to document India’s systematic abuses”.
Warning of dangers to peace, Khan said India’s “reckless behavior has endangered regional security”, referring to “the unprovoked aggression against Pakistan earlier this year, targeting civilians, including women and children”.
“Pakistan exercised its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, responding in a measured manner by targeting military targets only,” he noted, adding that “India suffered significant losses, including several downed aircraft.”
He concluded that “India’s denials and distortions cannot erase the simple truth: Jammu and Kashmir remains a disputed territory.”
“The people of Kashmir have been waiting for over seven decades to exercise their UN-mandated right to self-determination,” Khan said. “Pakistan will continue to call out India’s hypocrisy, oppose its state terrorism and support the just and legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for justice, dignity and freedom. »
