India on Wednesday reiterated its position on the Indus Waters and Jammu and Kashmir Treaty in the United Nations Security Council and accused Pakistan of using cross-border terrorism as an instrument of state policy. New Delhi reiterated that Kashmir will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.
Speaking at the UN Security Council high-level open debate on “Natural Resource Governance: Foundation for Peace, Security and Prosperity”, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathanini Harish, said cooperation between the two neighbors cannot flourish without trust and goodwill.
Read also: Pakistan’s deception over the Indus Treaty exposed
India accuses Pakistan of misusing the UN platform
He also criticized Pakistan for misusing the UN platform to promote its false narrative.
Responding to Pakistan’s intervention, Harish said India did not intend to bring up bilateral issues in the discussion but had to respond to Islamabad’s statements.
“It was not our intention to raise other issues in this forum, but my delegation is forced to respond to Pakistan, because it has chosen to misuse today’s discussion to promote its false narrative,” he said.
Reiterating India’s position on Jammu and Kashmir, the envoy said: “For the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, it has always been and will remain an integral and inalienable part of India. This is the constitutional and legal reality that Pakistan has deliberately chosen to ignore.”
“The only outstanding issue with regard to Jammu and Kashmir is the blatant aggression and illegal occupation of sovereign Indian territory by Pakistan,” he added.
Read also: India criticizes Pakistan for “politicization” of UN forum: “Jammu and Kashmir was and will remain an internal matter”
“Cooperation cannot be expected.”
Harish also reiterated India’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty, linking cooperation under the agreement to the broader security environment between the two countries.
“Our position on the Indus Waters Treaty remains clear and consistent. Cooperation cannot be expected on the basis of mutual trust and good faith when cross-border terrorism is regularly deployed as an instrument of state policy,” he said.
These statements came at a time when India stressed that cooperation and trust cannot go hand in hand with terrorism, in its response to Pakistan’s comments during the Security Council debate.
Read also: Indus Water Treaty will not work in its current form as Pakistan supports terrorism: India
India asks Pakistan to focus on its internal challenges
In his concluding remarks, Harish urged Pakistan to address its internal challenges instead of targeting India in international forums.
“Instead of pointing fingers at India, Pakistan will serve itself and its people much better by putting its house in order,” he said.
The Indian envoy’s intervention reiterated New Delhi’s long-standing position that Jammu and Kashmir remains an integral and inalienable part of India, and that any cooperation under the Indus Waters Treaty must be based on mutual trust and good faith. India also asserted that Pakistan sought to shift the focus of Security Council discussions by raising bilateral issues that were not related to the agenda.
