Pakistan rejects India's Kashmir claim at UN, calls for plebiscite
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Pakistan has once again dismissed India's claim that Jammu and Kashmir is an 'integral part' of the country, reiterating that the region remains disputed and its status is recognised as such by the United Nations and the international community.
'Every official UN map depicts Jammu and Kashmir as disputed territory,' said Gul Qaiser Sarwani, Counselor at Pakistan's Mission to the UN, while exercising his right of reply at the conclusion of a high-level UN Security Council debate on peacekeeping operations.
Sarwani's response came after Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish repeated New Delhi's assertion that 'Kashmir has been, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.'
The Indian envoy made the statement in reaction to a speech by Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who had urged the 15-member Council to implement its own resolutions that call for a UN-supervised plebiscite to determine the future of Jammu and Kashmir.
'No amount of obfuscation can change the legal, political and historical reality — Jammu and Kashmir is not, and has never been, a so-called 'integral' part of India,' Sarwani said.
He described the region as a 'disputed territory,' whose 'final disposition' must be decided by its people through a plebiscite, as mandated by multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
Sarwani criticised India's heavy military presence in the region, stating that more than 900,000 troops and paramilitary forces are deployed in what he called 'the densest occupation in history.'
He further stated that ore than 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed since 1989 and highlighted India's gross violation of human rights, citing reports recorded by the UN.
Responding to Indian allegations of cross-border terrorism, the Pakistani diplomat said, 'It is most ironic that India, which is committing the worst form of state terrorism in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, is portraying itself as the victim.'
He added that occupiers and colonisers often label legitimate struggles for self-determination as terrorism.
Sarwani went on to remark that India was orchestrating subversion and targeted killings in foreign countries, and highlighted that India funds and supports anti-Pakistan groups including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), and the Majeed Brigade.
Pakistan has consistently maintained that a fair and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute lies in the implementation of UN resolutions and the holding of a plebiscite under UN supervision.
Earlier, On the occasion of Pakistan Day, the illegally detained Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Masarrat Aalam Butt, along with other Hurriyat leaders and organizations have extended their warm congratulations to the people and government of Pakistan, praying for the nation's continued progress, stability and prosperity.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a message from the notorious Tihar Jail in New Delhi, Masarrat Aalam Butt expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan, describing the country as a beacon of hope for oppressed Kashmiris and the entire Muslim Ummah.
He emphasised that Pakistan, founded on a noble ideology, serves as a great blessing for Muslims worldwide.
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