drag the international community

faces local opposition

Independence Day speech

touted Modi’s remarks

Kashmir remains integral part of India, Pak can write as many letters to UN: MEA

NEW DELHI: India continued to maintain a high level of pressure on Pakistan on Thursday, dismissing Islamabad ’s attempts tointo the Kashmir issue . The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson also justified India’s comments on Balochistan, saying mere statements cannot be construed as interference.“They (Pakistan) can write as many letters as they want (to UN). It won't change the ground situation that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup at a news conference.“Also, the ground reality is that a part of Jammu and Kashmir is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan,” he added.He also pressed on the $47-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC ), which is a critical component of relations between Islamabad and Beijing . “The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes through Indian territory which is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. So naturally, we will be concerned,” he said.The CPEC is a ray of hope for Pakistan’s flailing economic fortunes. Itin the restive Balochistan Province , provoking strong-arm reactions from Islamabad.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised these human rights violations in his, to the shock of Pakistan’s security establishment. Pakistani commentators hadas India’s interference in Balochistan.Swarup dismissed the accusations of interference. “If human rights violations are happening anywhere, we will express concern. Real interference is cross border terrorism,” he said.Pakistan has been in making a concerted effort to get various international forums, especially the United Nations, to react to the ongoing unrest in Kashmir. Last week, Islamabad had reached out to the envoy of the European Union and the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (US, UK, France, Russia and China) in a bid to have the Kashmir issue taken up at the UN. Islamabad also took the opportunity to ask for a plebiscite in Kashmir.Days later, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had tasked 22 parliamentarians with raking up Kashmir at the UN.But Islamabad’s efforts have failed to evoke a response from any of the major powers.India’s confidence over Islamabad’s attempts to involve the UN in the issue stems from the fact that Pakistan is yet to fulfil the first condition of a 1948 resolution of the UN Security Council , that asks Pakistan to pull back all its troops and nationals from Kashmir, before India can be asked to do the same. This was a precondition to the holding a UN-monitored plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir.