UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan on Saturday said it was well documented that India was not only committing state terrorism in held Kashmir but also abroad.

Pakistani diplomat Muhammad Faheem stated this before the 193-member UN General Assembly in response to Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s accusation that Pakistan was a promoter of terrorism.

The minister said a dysfunctional nation “coveting the lands of others” must be exposed and must be countered. The issue to be resolved between the two countries only relates to Azad Kashmir, he claimed.

Mr Jaishankar had protested against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for raising the Kashmir dispute in the General Assembly and accused Islamabad of pursuing a policy of cross-border terrorism.

In his Sept 28 forceful speech, PM Shehbaz had urged both Israel and India to stop targeting innocent Palestinians and Kashmiris.

Highlighting New Delhi’s threat to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and occupy Azad Kashmir, the premier had issued a stern warning to India. “Let me state, in no uncertain terms, that Pakistan will respond most decisively to any Indian aggression,” the premier had asserted, his words emphasised by a firm thump on the rostrum.

On Saturday, while exercising his right of reply after the Indian minister’s speech, Mr Faheem said, “It is most ironic that India, which is committing the worst form of state terrorism in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir while also actively engaging in sponsoring terrorism abroad, is portraying itself as the victim.”

Highlighting that India finances terrorism against Pakistan using its proxies, he said New Delhi’s campaign to damage and destroy Pakistan’s economy was no secret, including by impeding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through the sponsorship of terrorist groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army and the Majeed Brigade.

“India is also supporting terrorism in Balochistan,” he added.

“India’s assassination campaign against its dissidents residing overseas has been exposed in Canada and the United States, while its leaders publicly boast of murdering their citizens abroad.”

The third secretary at Pakistan’s mission in the US, Mr Faheem said, “It is a familiar ploy of all occupiers and colonisers to paint legitimate struggles for freedom and liberation as terrorism. India is failing to grasp the enormity of the indigenous Kashmiri resistance against its stranglehold and wrongly calling it cross-border terrorism.”

He said, “India must introspect, reflect, and immediately implement the Security Council resolutions that provide for the Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination.”

Mr Faheem called for holding India accountable for its actions that violate international law.