India has firmly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of the country and criticised Islamabad for using terrorism as a “tool of state policy” to covet the Indian territory.
India strongly hit back at Islamabad for raking up the Kashmir issue at a UN forum on culture of peace, saying Pakistan is “well-known” for providing safe havens to terrorists and cloaks its designs in the garb of concern for justice and self-determination.
In a reply to Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi who raised the Kashmir issue during a debate on Thursday, senior Indian diplomat Srinivas Prasad said Islamabad has used “terrorism as a tool of state policy” and was using the UN platform to “covet Indian territory”.
Ms. Lodhi had raised the Kashmir issue saying there are “long-standing cases where historic injustices wait to be corrected and where people are still denied their right to self-determination”.
“May I remind our neighbour that Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain an integral part of India. It is time that Pakistan too reconciles to this. As a democracy India always abides by the choice of the people,” Mr. Prasad said.
