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NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday firmly rejected Pakistan’s reference to Jammu and Kashmir during an open debate at the United Nations Security Council, saying the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral part of India and will always remain so. Speaking at the UNSC Open Debate on “Leadership for Peace”, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish P, said Pakistan’s repeated mention of Jammu and Kashmir reflected an “obsessive focus” on harming India and its people. He said: “I refer to the statement made by the representative of Pakistan today. India would like to reiterate that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India. They were, are, and will always remain so. Pakistan’s unwarranted reference to Jammu & Kashmir in today’s open debate attests to its obsessive focus on harming India and its people. A serving non-permanent Security Council Member that chooses to further this obsession in all meetings and platforms of the UN in pursuit of its divisive agenda cannot be expected to fulfil its designated responsibilities and obligations. ” The Indian envoy said India signed the Indus Waters Treaty 65 years ago in good faith and with a spirit of friendship. However, he said Pakistan had violated the spirit of the treaty over the decades by waging three wars and sponsoring thousands of terror attacks against India. He added that tens of thousands of Indian lives have been lost in Pakistan-sponsored terrorism over the last four decades.Referring to the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, the ambassador said, “The Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, involved religion-based targeted killings of 26 innocent civilians by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. It is in this backdrop that India has finally announced that the Treaty will be held in abeyance until Pakistan, which is a global epicentre of terror, credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border and all other forms of terrorism.”Ambassador Harish also criticised Pakistan’s internal political situation, referring to the jailing of a former prime minister, the banning of a political party, and constitutional changes that grant immunity to military leadership.He further India would continue to counter Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in all its forms with full resolve.
