New Delhi: India on Saturday took strong note of comments by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, advocating the role of the United Nations in resolving the Kashmir dispute and said all conscientious members of the global community have a responsibility to call out international terrorism, especially of a cross-border nature.
Without directly naming Pakistan, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Jammu and Kashmir has borne the brunt of a terrorist campaign for decades and it continues till now.
He was responding to comments on Jammu and Kashmir by the Pakistani and German foreign ministers at a joint press conference in Berlin on Friday.
With Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on her side at a joint press conference, Baerbock said on Friday, “Germany has a role and responsibility with regard to the situation of Kashmir. Therefore, we support intensively the engagement of the United Nations to find peaceful solutions in the region”.
“There are tensions as [Bhutto] described, so we encourage Pakistan and we encourage India to follow the track of the ceasefire, to follow the track of the United Nations, and to intensify the political dialogue, and also the political and practical cooperation in the region,” she asserted.
Thereafter, Bagchi said, “All serious and conscientious members of the global community have a role and responsibility to call out international terrorism, especially of a cross-border nature.”
“The Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has borne the brunt of such a terrorist campaign for decades. This continues till now,” he added.
Bagchi said foreign nationals have been victims there, as also in other parts of India.
“The UN Security Council and FATF are still pursuing Pakistan-based terrorists involved in the horrific 26/11 attacks,” he said.
“When states do not recognise such dangers, either because of self-interest or indifference, they undermine the cause of peace, not promote it. They also do grave injustice to the victims of terrorism,” Bagchi added.
At the press conference in Berlin on Friday, Zardari said peace inside South Asia would not be possible without the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions and taking into consideration the aspirations of Kashmiri people.
Thereafter on Sunday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office rejected the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson’s remarks regarding Zardari’s joint press conference with his German counterpart in Berlin, describing his comments as “unwarranted” and “gratuitous.”
The Foreign Office, in a statement said that while the “views expressed by the foreign ministers elucidated the growing urgency and concern in the international community on the Kashmir dispute, the MEA’s gratuitous remarks have exposed the desperation of a country that finds itself increasingly isolated on the issue” of Kashmir.
The FO said Pakistan’s achievements and contribution to the cause of counterterrorism are globally acknowledged.
It asked India to address the international community’s concerns on Kashmir.
It also accused India of politicising the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and trying to misuse its membership of the Paris-based body to target Pakistan.
Pakistan was placed on the grey list by FATF in June 2018 for deficiencies in its system to curb money laundering and terror financing.
India has been strongly maintaining that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between New Delhi and Islamabad.
After India and Pakistan signed the 1972 Simla agreement, New Delhi has consistently stated that the Kashmir issue is a dispute which has to be resolved bilaterally, without any role of third party. India has also stopped recognising the role of the UN in Kashmir for several decades, refusing to engage with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) stationed in both countries.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she believed that every country in the world has a role and responsibility for solving conflicts and for ensuring that “we are living in a peaceful world”.
(With PTI inputs)