India reacted sharply on Thursday when Pakistan brought up allegations on Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) saying that a country with such an “abysmal” record should not make such allegations against another country.
Exercising its ‘Right to Reply’, India said Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on matters that are internal to India.
At the 55th Regular Session of the UNHRC, India’s first secretary Anupama Singh said that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral part of India.
“With regard to the extensive references to India made by Pakistan, we note that it is deeply unfortunate for the Council’s platform to have once again been misused to make patently false accusations against India,” Anupama Singh said.
The ongoing UNHRC session, which began on February 26, will continue until April 5. The exchange between India and Pakistan is part of a broader diplomatic discourse between the two nations.
Ms Singh said Pakistan’s allegations were ironic as its own human rights record was “truly abysmal”. She gave instances of atrocities against the Christian community in Jaranwala city in August 2023, where 19 churches were destroyed and 89 Christian houses were burnt down.
“A country that has institutionalised the systemic persecution of its own minorities and has a truly abysmal human rights record, commenting on India, which is demonstrably making great strides in achieving economic progress and social justice, is not merely ironical but perverse,” she said.
The Indian diplomat also accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism globally. Moreover, she referred to the country’s debt-riddled economy and its people’s dissatisfaction with the government.
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