Mr. President, My delegation is exercising its right of reply in response to the comments made by India. Deflection and disinformation define India’s diplomacy today. The biggest falsehood that we just heard is that Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India. This is a legal fiction. In all its resolutions on this subject the Security Council has decided that the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined by its people through a UN supervised plebiscite. India has accepted this decision and is bound to comply with it in accordance with Article 25 of the UN Charter, says a press release received here today from New York. The maps of the United Nations also show Kashmir as a disputed territory. In Kashmir, the oldest United Nations peace-keeping force (UNMOGIP) is deployed at present along the Line of Control (LOC). Above all, the report which is under consideration by the Security Council itself considers Kashmir as a disputed territory. If India has any respect for international law and moral courage, it will end its reign of terror, withdraw its troops and let the Kashmiris freely decide their future in accordance with the Security Council resolutions. Mr. President, In order to divert attention from the ever-increasing international condemnation of India’s widespread and escalating human rights abuses in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, India continues to level baseless allegations against others. History bears testimony to the undeniable reality that aggressors, colonizers and occupiers often attempt to justify their suppression of legitimate struggles for self-determination and freedom by portraying them as “terrorism”. India, Mr. President, is the very epitome of this approach. Moreover, the Indian delegation’s statement did not address the facts presented by my delegation regarding its destabilizing arms build-up and aggressive military policies. Rather it made self-serving assertions that this is not the right forum to raise these matters here. Let me r-emphasize that the issues my delegate raised are completely relevant to this Committee’s work, as they carry grave implications for regional and international peace and security. International bodies mandated to deliberate or negotiate security and disarmament issues do not do so in a vacuum. Threat perceptions, doctrines and negotiating postures of states are not solely predicated on global developments, either. Obviously, what the Indian delegation would not want this body to scrutinize is the overwhelming deployment of India's conventional and non-conventional capabilities against Pakistan. Pakistan has been and will continue to highlight these issues and India’s “State terrorism” against the people of Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. As for comments regarding minorities, the Indian delegation would do well to reflect on the deeply troubling trajectory their state is embarked upon, rather than indulging in patent falsehoods about Pakistan. Today India is being guided by a supremacist ideology that has mainstreamed Islamophobia and bigotry against minorities particularly Muslims in its political discourse. In today’s incredibly intolerant India, the 200 million strong Muslim minority faces frequent lynching by ‘cow vigilantes’; pogroms by RSS thugs, with official complicity; discriminatory citizenship laws to disenfranchise Muslims; and a concerted campaign to destroy mosques and the rich Muslim heritage of India. Mr. President, Regarding India’s reckless behaviour to launch a supersonic nuclear-capable Indian missile into Pakistan’s territory, as my delegation already said that this incident cannot be dismissed as an “accident”. The joint inquiry called for by Pakistan is essential to answer questions on the integrity of India’s command and control system, its safety and security protocols; and the reasons for India`s delayed admission of the missile launch. I thank you
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