India on June 17 rebuffed Pakistan's latest salvo at the United Nations vis-a-vis the Kashmir conflict, reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and that "no amount of questioning can change the reality". India also stressed that cross-border terrorism was unacceptable.
The comments came during a regular media briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), where the spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was asked about Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's letter to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council regarding the Kashmir conflict. Bagchi said that “no amount of justification can make terrorism acceptable”.
"Look, I will only say that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. No amount of questioning can change this reality. Also, cross border terrorism is unacceptable and no amount of justification can make it acceptable,” he said.
In his letter Shah Mahmood Qureshi alleged that there was a design on the part of India to alter the demographic composition of the Kashmir Valley. He alleged that fake domicile certificates were among the measures being employed in Kashmir to achieve that design. He urged the Security Council to call upon India to reverse its actions, including those initiated on and after August 5, 2019.
The letter said that Pakistan desires peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including India, but that “the onus is on India to create an enabling environment for result-oriented engagement with Pakistan”.
India maintains that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad but Pakistan must act against terror modules operating from its soil.
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