Occupied Kashmir will never be 'integral part of India': Islamabad slams New Delhi for 'misleading' UNSC

Pakistan and India again traded barbs at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) — this time on occupied Kashmir — with Islamabad slamming the other side for “misleading” the council. Speaking during the presentation of the UNSC’s Annual Report to the General Assembly on Friday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad called for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute, according to a press release. Pakistan coordinated and drafted the introduction to the annual report. Subsequently, in his statement, India’s UN envoy, Harish Parvathaneni, accused Pakistan of misusing the UN platforms for its so-called “divisive political interests”. He also asserted that the occupied region of Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India”. In turn, Political Coordinator at the Pakistan Mission Gul Qaiser Sarwani, utilising the right of reply, pointed out that Jammu and Kashmir “remains an internationally recognised dispute on the agenda of the Security Council”. “No amount of obfuscation can alter the historical, legal and international character of this dispute. Jammu and Kashmir never was, neither is, and nor will ever be so-called an integral part of India,” the official declared. “I would advise the Indian representative to carefully read the report, rather than denying facts, deflecting attention and misleading the august Assembly,” Sarwani said, highlighting facts stated in the Annual Report. He continued: “Nearly eight decades after the Council’s resolutions, calling for a UN-supervised plebiscite, the Kashmiri people continue to be denied their inalienable right to self-determination. “Meanwhile, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, demographic engineering and other human rights violations continue in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The gravity of the situation was reflected in the Joint Communication issued by United Nations Special Procedures on 16 O