India, Pakistan clash over Kashmir at UN

Ambassador Tarar defends President Zardari's statement at UN General Assembly on Jammu and Kashmir.


October 02, 2012
India, Pakistan clash over Kashmir at UN

UNITED NATIONS: Representatives of Pakistan and India had a verbal duel in the UN General Assembly on Monday night over the decades-old Jammu and Kashmir dispute between the two South Asian countries.

Reacting to Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna's assertion earlier in the day that last week's remarks by President Asif Ali Zardari remarks on Kashmir were "unwarranted", Pakistan's Deputy Permanent Representative Raza Bashir Tarar defended the Pakistani leader's statement as the dispute, he said, remained unresolved.

"Let me begin by emphasizing that the reference to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in the President of Pakistan's statement was not 'unwarranted'," Ambassador Tarar said, while exercising his right of reply to the Indian minister's statement, in which Krishna had also claimed that the Himalayan state was an "integral part" of India.

"Let me also make it absolutely clear that Jammu and Kashmir is neither an integral part of India nor has it ever been," the Pakistani envoy told the 193-member Assembly.

Zardari had reaffirmed in his speech that Pakistan "will continue to support the right of the people of Jammu & Kashmir to peacefully choose their destiny in accordance with the UN Security Council's long-standing resolutions on this matter".

Kashmir, he said, remained a symbol of the failures of the United Nations system rather than its strengths. The president went on to say that a solution could only be reached in an environment of cooperation.

Indian delegate Vinay Kumar, responding to references by Ambassador Tarar of Pakistan, insisted that Jammu and Kashmir states were an integral part of India, adding that Pakistan's "illegal occupation" of parts of the region was in violation of India's territorial integrity and international law.

India, he added, rejected Pakistan's claim in its entirety. Exercising his right of reply for a second time, Ambassador Tarar said the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir had been set out in Security Council resolutions and agreed upon by both Pakistan and India.

As such, characterizing the region as an integral part of India was untenable, he said, adding that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had not exercised their right to self-determination.

COMMENTS (73)

Somesh | 12 years ago | Reply

@Kaddu: Please continue with your illegal occupation of Kashmir, keep the Kashmiris subjugated and oppressed, keep denying them the basic rights enjoyed by other Indians, keep killing innocent civilians and bury them in mass graves. Keep up the utter disregard to human rights, civil rights and liberties. Be totally inflexible and harden your attitude towards Kashmiris. This will surely make India great and strong (sic) Replace Kashmir with Balochistan/Waziristan and Indians with Pakistanis in the above statement and read it again, you will understand that mirror sometimes shows harsh realities stark into the face....

Jat | 12 years ago | Reply

@Sting--Fragile: To add to what Sting-Fragile said

Don't forget tortured bodies with drilled holes thrown on the road to scare the Baloch. And of course the Taliban playing football with heads of Pakistani soldiers, who were just doing their job.

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