United Nations: Strongly hitting out at Pakistan for again raking up the Kashmir issue at the UN, India has said a “constructive contribution cannot be expected from a country that is the epicentre of global terrorism, and the biggest destabilising force in the world.”
Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, A Amarnath, said on Monday that India does not need advice from a nation with a proven track record of illicit export of nuclear material and technology.
“Pakistan’s desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods and habit of abusing the sanctity of multilateral forums deserves our collective contempt,” he said.
“Pakistan has made a number of futile and unsubstantiated allegations against India, including in relation to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. These do not merit a response, as they pertain to matters internal to India,” Amarnath said.
India exercised its Right of Reply after Pakistan’s envoy to the UN Munir Akram raked up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during the meeting of the General Assembly’s First Committee that deals with disarmament and international security issues.
Amarnath reiterated that the entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.
“This includes the areas that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” he said in the Right of Reply.
“Given its established State practice of hosting, aiding, and actively supporting terrorists, how could one expect any constructive contribution from Pakistan to the First Committee, that deals with important matters of international peace and security,” Amarnath said.
With the Pakistani envoy also referring to India’s defence arsenal, New Delhi hit back saying that as a “responsible State, India strictly abides by its obligations under international treaties and needs no advice from a country, which has a proven track record of illicit export of nuclear material and technology.”
“India’s security concerns are not confined to a region and, therefore, India has always approached these issues in a global context,” he said.
He said that in contrast to India’s constructive approach on disarmament matters, Pakistan has only been “disruptive”.
Amarnath said it is 25 years now that the world is paying the price of Pakistan’s obstructionist tactics in the CD (Conference on Disarmament) that have not allowed the conference to adopt a Programme of Work.