India on Wednesday said Pakistan’s effort to highlight the Kashmir unrest globally is not going make their claims in the region legitimate even as it said that their concern is “baseless and untenable.”
“Sending out 22 envoys all over the world is not going to make their baseless and untenable claims legitimate. Instead of sending 22 envoys with the wrong message to the wrong countries, it would have been better to send just one envoy with the right message to the right country. The message obviously has to be one to stopping cross-border terrorism, ending incitement to violence in Jammu and Kashmir and putting an end to interference in India’s internal affairs,” Vikas Swarup, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs said during a briefing here.
Swarup said Pakistan can raise the matter with UN for the umpteen numbers of times but that does not alter the reality on the ground which is that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and part of it is under “forceable and illegal” occupation of Pakistan.
However, he said, India will continue to raise the issue of human rights violation in Balochistan.
“Humanity does not stop at our borders. If we feel human rights violations are concerning we will raise those concerns. We have raised in past also. What is blatant is indulgence in cross-border terrorism which Pakistan is again and again doing. That is real interference and that is what Pakistan need to stop,” he added.
He also added that India is concerned over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) because a portion of it is running through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK).
“Pakistan occupied Kashmir is part of India and it is under illegal occupation. We do have objections in any third party collaboration there,” he said.
Swarup said that the US may issue a fresh list of terrorist organizations, especially those indulging in cross-border terrorism.