Pak resorts to rhetoric; says J-K not integral part of India

United Nations, Oct 11 (PTI) In provocative comments,
Pakistan on Tuesday claimed that the northern Indian state of
Jammu and Kashmir has never been an "integral part" of India
and sought a UN-led plebiscite to determine the will of the
Kashmiri people, evoking an angry rebuttal by India which
termed the remarks as "unwarranted".
"Jammu and Kashmir is neither an integral part of India,
nor has it ever been so," Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Counsellor at
Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN, said during a debate
at the General Assembly.
Raising India's hackles Pakistan's Deputy Permanent
Representative to the UN Raza Bashir Tarar said: "In South
Asia, the inalienable right to self-determination of the
people of J-K had been recognized by a number of Security
Council resolutions... Indeed, the UN decolonization agenda
would be incomplete without resolution of the J-K dispute."
He, however, said Pakistan was committed to finding a
peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which
would lead to "durable peace and stability" in South Asia.
Responding to the statement, Indian representative R
Ravindra (First Secretary) said the reference made by the
Pakistani official to Jammu and Kashmir "is unwarranted and
completely irrelevant to the work of this Committee."
"I would like to remind the distinguished representative
of Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of
India. The Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental
rights to all its citizens. The people of Jammu and Kashmir
have expressed their free will by participating in free and
fair elections held at regular intervals," Ravindra said in
exercise of the right of reply. PTI