'So-called civilian govts at the mercy of Army': India fires back at Pakistan over J&K remark at UN

India on Saturday launched a sharp attack on Pakistan over its remarks on Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations, telling the world organisation that the "so-called" civilian governments in Islamabad "serve at the mercy" of their Army and rarely complete their terms.

India exercised its Right of Reply in response to remarks by Pakistan at the UN General Assembly Third Committee meeting Friday, where the Pakistani delegate raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, news agency PTI reported.

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"Categorically" rejecting the remarks, India said the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always remain "integral and inalienable" parts of India.

‘Civillian govt at Army’s mercy'

"We all know that the so-called civilian governments in Pakistan serve at the mercy of their Army and rarely complete their terms," First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Bhavika Mangalanandan was quoted as saying.

Mangalanandan also mentioned former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's continued jail term even as his health is said to be “deteriorating fast”.

"Instead of addressing domestic discontent, Pakistan seeks to distract by fomenting instability in India and sponsoring, inciting, abetting, and financing cross-border terrorism in my country for more than three decades," she was quoted as saying.

‘Pakistan’s desperate attempts to mask Rawalakot tragedy'

"The only outstanding matter is a vacation of the territory Pakistan holds under illegal and forcible occupation. We heard Pakistani laments regarding the people of Jammu and Kashmir."

"This is a desperate attempt by Pakistan to mask the ongoing tragedy in Rawalakot and its other cities, the killing of hundreds of civilians, and the brutal crackdown across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, for merely demanding bread, electricity and human dignity, said.

India called this “unsurprising” and termed it as a natural outcome of prolonged Pakistani military occupation of the region by force and its unending repression.

"When any free media is banned from covering such news in Pakistan, the evidence becomes undeniable for the global community that only the writ of the Form 47 government and their masters and the Army headquarters runs large," she said, referring to a term used to describe allegations of rigging and manipulation in Pakistan's 2024 general elections.

India told the UNGA Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural Issues, that Jammu and Kashmir, by contrast to the situation in Pakistan, held Assembly Elections in 2024, with a massive turnout followed by a peaceful transfer of power to an elected government.

"The contrast could not have been starker. The only human rights violation taking place in Kashmir is perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Pakistan and their terrorist proxies. Propaganda does not become fact through repetition. Pakistan would serve its people better by confronting its own fault lines and building its economy than by coveting the territory of others," she said.