India on Friday hit back at Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for his remarks in the UN Security Council on Jammu & Kashmir and said they are a “Pavlovian response” aimed to misuse any forum to malign New Delhi.
This terse response came after Bilawal brought up the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and abrogation of Article 370. Referring to abrogation of Article 370 as well as the recent decision of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu & Kashmir, he said these actions have complicated the matter and are an assault on the United Nations, the UN Security Council resolutions and the Geneva Convention. Bilawal said “such actions make it very difficult for us to hold a dialogue with India”.
Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Rajesh Parihar, termed them as “unwarranted remarks” on Jammu & Kashmir, saying comments made by Foreign Minister Bilawal are a “Pavlovian response” aimed to misuse any forum and every topic to propagate false and malicious propaganda against New Delhi.
“Pakistan representative made unwarranted remarks, which symbolises nothing but a ‘Pavlovian’ response aimed to misuse any forum, and every topic, to propagate false and malicious propaganda against my country,” Parihar said.
India exercised the right of reply at the Security Council open debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security - Conflict and Food Security” organised by the US, the Council President.
“The Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. This includes the areas that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. No amount of rhetoric and propaganda from any country can deny this fact,” Parihar asserted.
“The only contribution that Pakistan can make is to stop State-sponsored terrorism. As regards to his other remarks, we will treat it with the contempt it deserves,” Parihar added.
Bilawal also said, “ We are very cognizant of the fact that economic activity, dialogue, diplomacy are ultimately the ways and means for countries to engage with each other and resolve disputes. I just note that particularly at the moment given this aggressive, hostile behaviour, the practical space for that happening is very limited.”
On a question on India’s decision to ban wheat exports, he said, “It is obviously the decision of the Indian Government to decide what it wishes to do,” and added that such restrictive and protective actions are being discouraged through multilateral forums like the UN Security Council meeting on conflict and food security called by the US.
“We all must work together to meet the needs of those who can’t meet their food security targets,” he said.
Incidentally, India on Tuesday had rejected the resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on the delimitation exercise in Jammu & Kashmir and termed it “farcical”.
Making the country’s stand clear, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had also said Pakistan has no locus standi to interfere in the internal matters of India.
“We categorically reject the farcical resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on the subject of the delimitation exercise in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir,” he said.