India delivered a sharp rebuttal to Pakistan's continued criticism of the center’s decision on Kashmir, telling the United Nations General Assembly that its citizens did not need anyone else, "least of all those who have built an industry of terrorism from an ideology of hate", to speak on their behalf.
In a carefully calibrated response to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's
speech on Friday, India also expressed concern over Pakistan's "virulent
reaction" to the withdrawal of Article 370 which, the government said, had
prevented the integration and development of Jammu and Kashmir.
"The
mainstreaming of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Ladakh, in India's thriving and
vibrant democracy, with a millennia-old heritage of diversity, pluralism, and
tolerance is well and truly under way," Vidisha Maitra, First Secretary,
Ministry of External Affairs, told the UN after India exercised its right to
reply to Pakistan's speech.
Prime
Minister Imran Khan, whose appeals on the subject have also found little favour
with the United States and President Donald Trump, addressed the UN on Friday
and warned of ‘consequences’, if two nuclear-armed nations fights.
India's
response was the second rebuttal of the day for Mr Khan - a senior US diplomat
earlier questioned the Pakistan leader over his silence over Uighur Muslim
being detained in China in "concentration-like conditions".