New Delhi: India hit out at Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif on Thursday for his efforts to involve the United Nations (UN) and other countries on the Kashmir issue by sending letters.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup ridiculed the Pakistani action, saying such letters could not ‘whitewash’ the cross-border terrorism for which Pakistan was responsible.
Earlier this week, Sharif wrote letters to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, seeking their help to end the ‘persistent and egregious violation of the basic human rights’ of the Kashmiri people. The Pakistan PM alleged that more than 50 deaths and 3,500 injuries had taken place in Kashmir in recent violence after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.
Stating that Pakistan has no locus standi in the matter as the Kashmir issue is internal to India, Swarup said India is in touch with important interlocutors bilaterally as well as multilaterally to put across the correct picture over the Kashmir issue.
Swarup held up the capture of Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Bahadur Ali as proof of Pakistan’s continued involvement in cross-border terrorism and infiltration into India.
“The interrogation of Bahadur Ali and his confession has clearly revealed the details of the kind of training that is provided to such young men, the camps in which they are kept, the weapons that they are provided and most importantly the indoctrination that they undergo prior to infiltration into India”, he was quoted as saying.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said the questioning of Pakistani terrorist Bahadur Ali, who was captured recently in North Kashmir, had thrown up leads showing involvement of LeT in aggravating the situation in the Valley. The NIA had furthermore alleged that Ali was trained by highly skilled Pakistani army men, a charge Pakistan denies.
