India asks Pakistan to concentrate on addressing its internal matters rather than raising Kashmir issue

WASHINGTON: India has asked Pakistan to concentrate on addressing its internal matters rather than raising the Kashmir issue and indulging in frivolous allegations against New Delhi.

“To best utilise this council’s time, I suggest the concerned delegation concentrate on addressing their internal matters and restoring order within their own borders, rather than indulging in frivolous allegations against my country,” R Madhu Sudan, a Counsellor in India’s UN Mission, told members of the Security Council on Thursday.

Madhu Sudan was responding to the issue of Kashmir raised by a Pakistani representative during the UN Security Council’s Open Debate on Famine and Conflict-Induced Global Food Insecurity.

“Unfortunately we saw one delegation misuse this forum yet again, to divert the attention of this council from the important topic of food security,” he said in his remarks, adding that one delegation consistently sought to exploit various United Nations platforms to further its agenda.

Emphasising that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India is non-negotiable, Madhu Sudan deemed it unnecessary to further engage in arguments or debates with those who resort to terrorism to advance their unlawful goals.

He advised Pakistan to address internal matters and restore order within its own borders “rather than indulging in frivolous allegations against my country”.

India and Pakistan have a strained relationship over a number of issues including Islamabad’s continued support of cross-border terrorism and the Kashmir issue.

India asserts that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and will” always be part of the country.

Bilateral relations between Islamabad and New Delhi have been tense since August 2019 when India changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)