The MEA further stated that the report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) ignores the core issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The MEA further stated that the report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) ignores the core issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

India on Monday lodged a strong diplomatic protest with the UN rights office over its updated report on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Hitting out at the UN body, the Ministry of External Affairs insisted that the report is merely a continuation of the earlier “false and motivated” narrative.

The MEA further stated that the report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) ignores the core issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

“The update of the report of the OHCHR is merely a continuation of the earlier false and motivated narrative on the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

“A situation created by years of cross-border terrorist attacks emanating from Pakistan has been ‘analysed’ without any reference to its causality. The update seems to be a contrived effort to create an artificial parity between the world’s largest and the most vibrant democracy and a country that openly practices state-sponsored terrorism,” he added.

The assertions in the report are in violation of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and ignore the core issue of cross-border terrorism, he said.

Pakistan, however, appreciated the efforts made by the UN office to document the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir, but stated that “there is simply no parallel” between the human rights situation in the two PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan. It claimed that unlike Kashmir which is the “most militarised zone in the world”, PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan is always open to foreign visitors.

Last year, the OHCHR published its first report on Kashmir and in an update to that, it claimed on Monday that “neither India nor Pakistan have taken any concrete steps to address the numerous concerns raised”. The report said there are “serious human rights violations and patterns of impunity” in Kashmir and significant human rights concerns witnessed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The report also called for an urgent need to address “past and ongoing human rights violations and to deliver justice to the people in Kashmir”.

(With inputs from PTI)

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