Foreign Office on Monday refuted the Indian claims on Jammu and Kashmir as its "integral part", saying the dispute is already on the agenda of United Nations Security Council and that India is trying to divert world attention from its atrocities on defenceless Kashmiri people. In a strong rejoinder to the claims made by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the 71st UN General Assembly session, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said it was strange that India is disowning the UN Security Council resolutions and that too at the UN.
"Can Indian External Affairs Minister explain that if Kashmir is an "integral part of India", [then] why is it on the agenda of Security Council?" Zakaria tweeted in response of the Indian External Affairs Minister who maintained that "Kashmir is an integral part of India and it will remain an integral part of India. No one can take it away by force".
The spokesperson further said that India was trying to divert world attention from its atrocities on defenceless Kashmiri people in the Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir. "But her efforts will not succeed," he added.
Referring to Swaraj's comments on Balochistan, he said that reference to Balochistan is a continuous admission by India of its involvement in subversive activities in Pakistan. "Indian External Affairs Minister's reference to Pakistan's province of Balochistan is a violation of UN principles and international law," he added. Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Dr Maleeha Lodhi also took to the twitter to respond to the Indian External Affairs Minister's assertions at the UNGA, saying international community is aware of the barbaric actions being undertaken by Indian occupation forces that are a grave violation of human rights.
"Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute. It is the oldest item on the UN agenda. The whole world acknowledges this," she tweeted, adding, the Indian FM' speech is a litany of falsehoods and baseless allegations. "The biggest falsehood is that Kashmir is an integral part of India... Another falsehood was that there are no human rights violations going on in Kashmir. India is in denial. Violations are all documented", she stated in a series of tweets.
She said that raising Balochistan, an internal matter, is a blatant violation of the principles of the UN charter and international norms. She said that Swaraj's entire reference to Pakistan was a vain attempt to divert attention from the grave situation in occupied Kashmir.
"For the Indian Foreign Minister to claim that her country has imposed no preconditions for talks with Pakistan is another untruth", she said, adding India suspended talks more than a year ago, and has refused to resume them despite repeated offers from Pakistan. She said that the latest offer of talks with India was made by Pakistan's Prime Minister himself from the rostrum of the General Assembly on 21 September.