Pakistan tells UNSC that Kashmir is ‘not an internal matter of India’

Pakistan on Friday rejected India’s claim that Jammu and Kashmir was an “integral part” or “an internal matter”, telling the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that the territory remained an internationally recognized dispute that needed to be resolved in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

These remarks were made by Advisor Saima Saleem while exercising Pakistan’s right of reply during a UN Security Council open debate on strengthening peaceful dispute resolution mechanisms. “Jammu and Kashmir is neither an integral part of India nor an internal affair,” Pakistan’s representative to the UN Security Council told her Indian counterpart.

She said India’s claims could not “rewrite history, change the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir, nor cover up nearly eight decades of systematic human rights violations against the Kashmiri people, including the denial of their inalienable right to self-determination.”

Calling on India to respect international law, Saima said it was “ironic to hear India preaching peace while violating international law and Security Council resolutions, and practicing aggression against its neighbors, repression in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, persecution of minorities and state terrorism in the region and beyond.”

Responding to India’s remarks during the debate, she said the Indian delegation had attempted to undermine the debate through “denial, distortion, false accusations and blatant misrepresentation of its conduct”.

She said India had itself taken the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the Security Council before ignoring its resolutions.

“Let me remind the Indian delegation that Security Council resolutions do not have an expiration date,” she said, emphasizing that respect for international law remained essential to maintaining international peace and security.

Saima also accused India of committing widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and restrictions on political freedoms in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and elsewhere in the country.

Comparing Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with IIOJK, she said Kashmiris in AJK exercised their political rights and enjoyed freedom of expression, while voices in IIOJK were silenced and dissent criminalized.

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She said thousands of cases of arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, conflict-related sexual violence, political repression and demographic changes had been documented in the IIOJK, while the Kashmiri people continued to be denied their right to self-determination.

Highlighting what she described as India’s disregard for international law, Saima cited New Delhi’s unilateral decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

She said the Indus River was the lifeline for more than 240 million people and should never be used as a “weapon of war”, warning that such actions could jeopardize peace and security in South Asia.

Saima also mentioned that India supported terrorism against Pakistan, saying New Delhi-backed groups had carried out attacks that left nearly 100,000 victims, including children.

She called on India to support militant groups operating through Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Majeed Brigade.

In support of her allegations, she cited the arrest of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan as well as what she described as assassinations carried out by Indian agents in North America through proxies. “India’s terrorism franchise has moved from regional to global,” she said.

Saima also accused the “Hindutva-inspired right-wing fascist RSS-BJP government” of normalizing hate crimes and discrimination against Muslims and other minority communities.

“Christians are persecuted, Dalits dehumanized and Sikhs disenfranchised in the greatest hypocrisy in the world,” she said.

Concluding her speech, Saima said Pakistan has always exercised restraint despite tensions with India and remains committed to dialogue and peaceful resolution of disputes.

“The path to peace in South Asia lies neither in denial nor in defiance, but in respect for the Charter and international law,” she said, urging India to honor its treaty obligations and engage in a peaceful resolution of the dispute in Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.