Pakistan - India clash in U.N for the second consecutive day

Pakistan - India clash in U.N for the second consecutive day

GENEVA - Pakistan's UN Deputy Permanent Representative in Geneva invoked Jawaharlal Nehru to make his case for a plebiscite in Kashmir.

Andrabi said that at the heart of the Kashmir problem is the right to self-determination which was conceded by "the first Prime Minister of India, one of the founding fathers of India" and by the UN Security Council through a plebiscite.

In response Indian diplomat Kumum said, "Pakistan keeps referring to UN Security Council Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. However, it very conveniently forgets its own obligation under these resolutions to first vacate the illegal occupation of Azad Kashmir. It has also blatantly disregarded its other commitments, be it under the 1972 Simla Agreement or Lahore Declaration of February 1999."

Instead, "they continue to support cross-border militancy in India," she said.

In the Simla Agreement signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then-Pakistan President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the two countries agreed that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral issue that has to be resolved without third party involvement.

The Lahore Declaration by Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan commits the two nations to avoid a nuclear arms race.

In "gross violation" of a Council, the UN-designated terrorists like Hafiz Mohammed Saeed are "freely operating with State support, and the UN designated entities are being politically mainstreamed in Pakistan," she added.

Andrabi also accused India of "crimes against humanity" in Kashmir and of escalating ceasefire violations along the line of control and the border with his country as a diversionary tactic.

On Thursday, he said that the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner "must not falter in documenting human rights abuses by India and recognise that root of the problem is illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir."

But "the real problem in the State of Jammu and Kashmir is terrorism, which has constantly received sustenance from Pakistan and territories under its control," Kumam said in reply. "We urge the Council to call on Pakistan to end cross border infiltration.

She listed the various human rights violations against minorities in Pakistan and demanded remedies for them.