Massive military expansion in India, says Pak PM; raises Kashmir at UN

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday accused India of “massive expansion of its military capabilities" and issuing threats to cross the LoC for taking over Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, as he raised the Kashmir issue again in his address at the United Nations General Assembly.

Advertisement

Sharif demanded that New Delhi should reverse the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status, and also charged India of trying to subjugate its Muslim population and obliterate its Islamic heritage.

Pakistan routinely raises the Kashmir issue at the annual UN debate. India was expected to exercise its right of reply to counter Sharif's allegations.

Sharif said “like the people of Palestine”, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have “struggled for a century for their freedom and right to self-determination”.

Referring to the abrogation of Article 370, Sharif said India must reverse the "unilateral and illegal measures” to secure durable peace, and enter into a dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and "wishes of the Kashmiri people".

In his speech lasting about 20 minutes, Sharif claimed that instead of moving towards peace, India has moved away from its commitments to implement the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.

"These resolutions mandate a plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination,” he said.

“Even more worryingly,” he said during the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, “it is engaged in massive expansion of its military capabilities which are essentially deployed against Pakistan”.