Taking exception to Pakistan Prime Minister Sehbaz Sharif’s comments on Kashmir in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), India on Saturday charged him with efforts to “obfuscate misdeeds in his own country and justify actions against India.”
New Delhi also blamed Islamabad for sponsoring cross-border terrorism.
Giving this terse message while exercising its right to reply to Sharif’s statements at the UNGA, First Secretary of Indian mission in UN Mijito Vinito the United Nations, termed Shehbaz Sharif's claims over the Kashmir issue false and accused Islamabad of indulging in "cross-border terrorism".
"It is regrettable that the Prime Minister of Pakistan has chosen the platform of this assembly to make false accusations against India. He has done so to obfuscate misdeeds in his own country and to justify actions against India," Vinito said. In an apparent reference to terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, he said the country that claims to seek peace with its neighbours, would never shelter conspirators of 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Vinito said such a country would not make unjustified and untenable territorial claims against its neighbours.
"A polity that claims it seeks peace with its neighbours would never sponsor cross border terrorism. Nor would it shelter planners of the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, disclosing their existence only under pressure from the international community," he said.
Shehbaz Sharif, in his address brought up the Kashmir issue and said India's “illegal and unilateral” actions on August 5, 2019, to change the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, further undermined the prospects of peace and inflamed regional tension.
He also said Islamabad wants peace with all its neighbours, including India, but it is possible only after a "just and lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute." Sharif claimed that India's "illegal and unilateral" actions to change the special status of Jammu and Kashmir has inflamed regional tensions.
"I think it's high time that India understood this message loud and clear that both countries are armed to the teeth. War is not an option. It is not an option. Only peaceful dialogue can resolve these issues," he added.
Referring to the recent incidents of forced abduction and marriages of girls from Hindu, Sikh and Christian families in Pakistan, Vinito said it is ironic that the country which has committed "grave violation of minority rights" is speaking about minorities on a global platform. "The desire for peace, security and progress in the Indian subcontinent is real. It is also widely shared.