ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday rejected India's remarks on peaceful dispute resolution at the United Nations Security Council, saying New Delhi is violating international law, sponsoring terrorism and failing to implement Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.
Pakistan used its right of reply to the Indian representative during the Security Council's open debate on "Strengthening the Mechanisms for Peaceful Settlement of Disputes in Follow-up to Resolution 2788," saying India had undermined the debate through "denial, distortion, false accusations and gross misrepresentation of its own conduct."
Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN Counselor Saima Saleem stated, "It is ironic to hear India preaching peace while breaching international law and Security Council resolutions, and practicing aggression against its neighbors, repression in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, persecution of minorities, and perpetrating state-sponsored terrorism across the region and beyond."
"India's denial cannot rewrite history, change Jammu and Kashmir's internationally recognized disputed status, or conceal nearly eight decades of systematic human rights violations against the Kashmiri people," she said, adding that "Security Council resolutions do not have an expiry date."
The Pakistani diplomat also criticized India's decision to suspend implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty, calling it a violation of international law.
"The water of the Indus rivers is a lifeline for 240 million people of Pakistan, not a weapon of war," she said. "Such reckless conduct by India can only endanger peace and security in South Asia."
"India is a State-sponsor of terrorism," she said, adding that Pakistan had lost nearly 100,000 citizens to attacks carried out by "the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Majeed Brigade-proxies financed, armed, aided and abetted by India."
On domestic issues, Saleem accused India's government of institutionalizing religious discrimination, saying that Islamophobia had become "state policy" and that minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Sikhs, faced persecution.
Despite the accusations, she said Pakistan remained committed to dialogue and peaceful settlement of disputes.
"Even in the face of provocation and aggression, we have exercised restraint, kept the door to dialogue always open, and consistently chosen peaceful settlement of disputes over confrontation," the diplomat said.
Calling for lasting peace in South Asia, Saleem urged India to "implement Resolution 2788 in letter and spirit, honor its treaty obligations, and engage sincerely in the peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council."
