New Delhi, Mar 18 : India today slammed Pakistan for its comments on Kashmir, and said that instead of “spreading lies” Islamabad should vacate the Indian territory under its illegal and forcible occupation.
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, said in response to media queries on the comments made by Pakistan:
“We note that Pakistan has once again made some comments about the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The world knows that the real issue is Pakistan’s active promotion and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.
“In fact, this is the biggest roadblock to peace and security in the region.
“Instead of spreading lies, Pakistan should vacate Indian territory under its illegal and forcible occupation.”
The comments by the MEA spokesperson come after the Pakistan Foreign Office commented on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks made in the podcast interview with Lex Fridman where he said that “every attempt to foster peace with Pakistan was met with hostility and betrayal” and that he hoped that “wisdom would prevail on the leadership in Islamabad to improve bilateral ties.”
The Pakistan Foreign Office rejected PM Modi’s comments and said: “The remarks are misleading and one-sided. They conveniently omit the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which remains unresolved for the last seven decades despite India’s solemn assurances to the United Nations, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people.”
The Foreign Office also alleged that India was involved in fomenting trouble on Pakistani soil and accused India of “orchestrating targeted assassinations, subversion and terrorism in foreign territories.”
Attacker, victim put on par: Jaishankar on Kashmir
New Delhi, Mar 18: The “longest-standing” illegal occupation of a territory after World War II has been experienced by India in Kashmir, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday as he highlighted the selective application of global rules on issues pertaining to sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar batted for establishing a “strong and fair” United Nations as he raised concerns over historical injustices in dealing with certain issues.
Citing Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Kashmir, the minister said the “attacker” and the “victim” were clubbed under the same bracket.
“After World War II, the longest-standing illegal presence and occupation of a territory by another country pertains to India in Kashmir,” he said.
“We went to the UN. What was an invasion was made into a dispute. The attacker and the victim were put on par,” Jaishankar said.
The external affairs minister said global norms and rules must be applied uniformly.
“We need a strong UN but a strong UN requires a fair UN,” he said.
“A strong global order must have some basic consistency of standards,” he added.
