External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday rebuffed a senior US Senator, in a firm repartee, that India will ‘settle’ the Kashmir issue on its own when the American lawmaker brought up the issue during an interaction at the Munich Security Conference.
And asking him to desist from interfering in India’s internal affairs and develop proper understanding of the facts, New Delhi criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for raking up the Kashmir issue during his address at the Pakistan Parliament.
In Munich, referring to the Kashmir issue during a panel discussion, Senator Lindsey Graham said the best way to sell democracy will be to settle the Kashmir issue in a democratic way.
“In India, you are moving forward, you got your problems like we do at home, but you’ve chosen the democratic path. When it comes to Kashmir, I don’t know how it ends, but let’s make sure that two democracies will end it differently. If you can prove that concept here, then I think that’s probably the best way to sell democracy,” the Republican leader said.
To this, Jaishankar promptly responded, “Do not worry, Senator. One democracy will settle it and you know which one.”
During the discussion Jaishankar also said that the United Nations is far less credible than it has been in history and ‘something’ should be done about it.
“The United Nations is far less credible than it has been in history, which is not entirely surprising because when you think about it, there are not too many things which are 75 years old and still as good as they were. Clearly there is something that needs to be done there.” The Munich Security Conference, being held from February 14-16, is the world’s leading forum for debate on international security policy.
In Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kaumar said India rejects all references made by the
Turkish President on Jammu & Kashmir, asserting that the Union Territory is an integral and inalienable part of India.
“We call upon the Turkish leadership to not interfere in India’s internal affairs and develop proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region,” Kumar said.
Erdogan had in September last year too raised the Kashmir issue during his address at the United Nations General Assembly.In his address at a joint session of Pakistan’s Parliament on Friday, Erdogan compared the “struggle” of Kashmiri people with that of the fight by
Turkish people against foreign domination during the World War I.