'Kashmir is not an integral part of India' - Pakistan

Pakistan today claimed that Jammu and Kashmir has never been an "integral part" of India and sought a UN-led plebiscite to determine the will of the Kashmiri people, evoking an angry rebuttal by India which termed the remarks as "unwarranted".

"Jammu and Kashmir is neither an integral part of India, nor has it ever been so," Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Counsellor at Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN, said during a debate at the General Assembly.

The Pakistani army - Reuters

He, however, said Pakistan was committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which would lead to "durable peace and stability" in South Asia.

Responding to the statement, Indian representative, first secretary R Ravindra, said the reference made by the Pakistani official to Jammu and Kashmir was "unwarranted and
completely irrelevant" to the work of this Committee.

"I would like to remind the distinguished representative of Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental
rights to all its citizens. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have expressed their free will by participating in free and fair elections held at regular intervals," Ravindra said in exercise of the right of reply.