India Rebuffs ‘Lies and Half-Truths’ of Pakistan’s Envoy to China on Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi (Sputnik): India and Pakistan have been engaged in squabbling over Jammu and Kashmir, which both countries claim in full, but rule in part. Islamabad launched a diplomatic war against New Delhi after the latter abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019 to strip the erstwhile state of its special status.

India has scoffed at the Pakistani envoy to China’s assertions that around “200 innocent Kashmiris have been killed, around 50 cases of rape and molestation and nearly 1,000 cases of destruction of houses and property have been reported”. Ambassador Moin ul Haque’s claims were contained in an interview with the Chinese newspaper the Global Times’  

In a rebuttal, India said that Ambassador Haque “has chosen to repeat Pakistan’s lies and half-truths vis-a-vis the Union Territory (federally administered territory) of Jammu and Kashmir”. New Delhi said that Pakistan or any other country has no right to interfere in India’s internal affairs.

The Indian mission in Beijing said that the Global Times declined to carry its response to the interview, which it later shared on social media.

​India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on 5 August 2019 to withdraw the special status enjoyed by the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and divide it into two federally administered territories.

New Delhi’s move angered Islamabad, which claims to be a stakeholder in Kashmir, and Pakistan suspended diplomatic, trade and communication links. Earlier this month, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed that India had been “trapped” with its Kashmir policy and that the region would be free from “India’s reign of terror”.

Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947. They have also fought two wars over Kashmir.

Sourse: sputniknews.com