India Objects to Pakistan Raising Kashmir Issue at UN Forum

Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, India's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York (File photo)

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday strongly objected to Pakistan raising the Kashmir issue at a United Nations forum, accusing Islamabad of politicising the platform. The remarks were made by India's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, in response to comments by Pakistan's Permanent Representative, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad. Pakistan had raised the Kashmir issue during the proceedings, a subject it frequently brings up at international forums. Responding to Pakistan's intervention, Harish criticised the conduct of the co-chair and reiterated India's long-standing position on Jammu and Kashmir.

"I also refer to the unwarranted remarks made by the representative of Pakistan. It is incredible that a co-chair expected to be balanced and unbiased in conduct has chosen to politicize this forum. I would only like to stress for brevity of time that the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter strictly internal to India, it has always been is and will remain so," Harish said.

The Indian envoy also spoke about the ongoing review of UN mandates under the UN-80 framework, which aims to improve efficiency across the organisation.

"...India would like to emphasize that at a time when member states are undertaking mandate implementation review under the UN-80 framework, for all UN General Assembly mandates in order to achieve efficiencies. There is no reason why UN Security Council mandate should be outside the purview of such UN80 frameworks..." Harish said.

The strong reaction from India came days after Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif made provocative remarks against New Delhi over the Indus Waters Treaty, indicating that the suspension could deepen Pakistan's water crisis.