India denounces 'rhetoric of false allegations', after Pakistan warns of genocide in Kashmir

Politics

Reuters
11 September, 2019, 01:50 pm
Last modified: 11 September, 2019, 01:52 pm
Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the people of Kashmir.

India on Tuesday at the UN Human Rights Council denounced a "rhetoric of false accusations and concocted charges" made by a country India said is "the epicentre of global terrorism".

Though Pakistan wasn't directly named, the critics and accusations came after Pakistan told the forum earlier in the day that India's military presence in the disputed Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir raised the spectre of genocide.

India and Pakistan both rule parts of the Himalayan region while claiming it in full. They have fought two wars over it and India's move to impose direct rule on its side of the de facto border has reignited hostility.

India flooded the Kashmir Valley with troops on August 5. Mobile and Internet connections have been cut off ever since.

India's Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vijay Thakur Singh, said the Jammu and Kashmir civil administration was ensuring basic services and essential supplies, and restrictions were being eased.

India has battled separatist militants in its part of Kashmir since the late 1980s, accusing Muslim Pakistan of supporting them.

Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the people of Kashmir.

Speaking to reporters after delivering his remarks before the council, Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi said he didn't see any possibility of a bilateral engagement with India, and urged the U.N. Secretary-General and the Security Council to help defuse tensions.

He said that if India used some pretext to attack Pakistan, Islamabad would respond.

India and Pakistan forces regularly trade fire across a 740-kilometer Line Of Control, which is the de facto border.

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