Speaking at the UN General Assembly plenary on the Annual Report of the Security Council, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, said Pakistan’s references to Jammu and Kashmir had compelled India to respond and reminded Islamabad that membership of the Security Council was “a huge responsibility”.
“The unwarranted reference by Pakistan to a matter strictly internal to India, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has compelled me to respond. Pakistan has decided not to spare this forum either from their characteristic misuse of august UN platforms for their divisive political interests,” Harish said.
He also criticised Pakistan’s conduct as a current member of the UN Security Council.
“Abuse of its presence on the Security Council by Pakistan, including through the circulation of several misinformed and misleading communications also testifies to this counter-productive approach. I would like to remind Pakistan that being a member of the UN Security Council is a huge responsibility. It is not a forum for peddling biased and false narratives,” he said.
Reiterating India’s position on Jammu and Kashmir, Harish said there was no ambiguity over the status of the Union Territory.
“I would like to make it loud and clear. Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Any assertions to the contrary are baseless, devoid of and inconsistent with historical facts. Empty rhetoric and hollow claims by Pakistan would not change this fundamental reality,” he said.
The remarks came during discussions on the Security Council’s annual report, where Pakistan raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. India has consistently maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and has opposed attempts to raise the issue at multilateral forums.
During the session, India also renewed its call for reforms of the UN Security Council, arguing that the current structure no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.
“Retaining the status quo has so far not enabled effective functioning of the Security Council and cannot do so in future,” Harish said, while advocating expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership.
The UN intervention came a day after India lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over its plans to hold elections to the so-called Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, “are integral and inalienable parts of India as a result of complete, legal and irrevocable accession of Jammu & Kashmir to India in 1947”.
“The Government of India categorically rejects any attempts by Pakistan to bring material change to areas under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, and underlines that such actions cannot hide the fact that Pakistan illegally remains in possession of Indian territories, which it must vacate,” the ministry said.
