India on Friday panned Pakistan for its continued support to terrorism, declaring that the Islamabad must end its support to terrorism for dialogue between the two neighbours to resume.
New Delhi also underscored that the government did impose reasonable restrictions in Kashmir “to stop terrorists bleeding our people”, news agency Press Trust of India said, quoting India’s envoy to the UN Syed Akbaruddin.
The United Nations Security Council took no action during the closed meeting, which was called for by China and Pakistan.
But it was a rare meeting, held for the first time in decades.
Pakistan’s UN ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told reporters after the council’s consultations, that “this is the first and not the last step”.
The council listened to briefings and reports presented by UN bodies at the consultations that lasted just over an hour and members expressed “serious concerns” about the situation in Kashmir and urged all parties to not take unilateral action that could aggravate the situation further, Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Jun told reporters after the consultations that China had called.
Indian Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin blasted them, saying their remarks were “national statements masquerading as the will of the international community”.
Akbaruddin said matters relating to Article 370 were internal to India and did not have external ramifications. These decisions of the government are intended to ensure good governance, promote socio-economic development of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
“We are committed to gradually removing the restrictions” now in force in the state,” he said, “and India remains committed to ensuring the situation remains “calm and peaceful”.
He added: “We are committed to all the agreements we have signed on this issue.”
The Indian envoy then blasted Pakistan, without naming it. “It is using the “terminology of Jihad” and is promoting violence in India including against its leaders,” he said.
Indian remains “committed to resolving all issues between India and Pakistan and between India and any other country bilaterally and peacefully, he said.
He went on to take questions, which the Chinese and Pakistani had not.
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First Published:
Aug 16, 2019 22:11 IST
Source: HindustanTimes