India on Thursday castigated Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin-ul-Haque over his comments on Jammu and Kashmir, calling them “lies and half-truths”. Last week, the diplomat had urged the international community to take urgent action to alleviate the suffering of Kashmiri people in an interview with Global Times, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party.
In a tweet, the Indian Embassy in China said that the newspaper has refused to carry their response to the interview. The mission in a statement said that terrorists “recruited, trained and armed” by Islamabad have disturbed peace and order in the region, whose special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was revoked last year.
“Haque has chosen to repeat Pakistan’s lies and half-truths vis-a-vis the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India and whose affairs are internal affairs of India, where Pakistan, or any other country, has no locus standi,” the embassy added. “India’s concerted efforts to bring peace, stability and progress to J&K stand in stark contrast to Pakistan’s strategy, which is little more than a blatant and rapacious campaign of cross-border terrorism aimed at debilitating the region.”
The statement said the diplomat’s misrepresentation was not surprising and detailed the developmental activities initiated by the Narendra Modi government in the last one year after the abrogation of Article 370. “Perhaps, ambassador Haque could consider holding up a mirror to his own regime and reflect on Pakistan’s own actions in the region before making ludicrous characterisations of the Indian government’s actions,” it added.
The Indian embassy stated that Pakistan’s unprovoked ceasefire violations, numbering close to 3,000 in the first seven months of 2020 alone, provide support for terrorist infiltration along the Line of Control. “Pakistan that has repeatedly effected administrative and demographic changes in territories that it has occupied illegally and forcibly in J&K and Ladakh,” it said.
The mission said India’s efforts to ensure peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir is in contrast to “rapacious campaign of cross-border terrorism” by Pakistan.
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