India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for raising the Kashmir issue during a United Nations debate and called out its "desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods."
"As we meet today to discuss UNSC reforms, a representative of Pakistan has yet again made unwarranted references to Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir remain an integral and inalienable part of India irrespective of what Pakistan's representative believes," said Pratik Mathur, Permanent Mission of India to UN, in the right to reply during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meet on UN Security Council.
"Pakistan's desperate attempts to peddle falsehoods and a bad habit of abusing the sanctity of multilateral forums deserves collective contempt and perhaps sympathies as well," he added. India's befitting response to Pakistan's false claims came during a key UN General Assembly meeting on the United Nations Security Council.
India on Thursday also voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, as it reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to helping the war-torn country's people. "India is deeply concerned at the unfolding humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. In response to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people and respond to the urgent appeals made by the United Nations, India has dispatched several shipments of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan," said R. Madhu Sudan, Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN.
Addressing the UNSC Arria Formula Meeting, Counsellor Madhu Sudan said India has direct stakes in ensuring the return of peace and stability to the country, given its position as a contiguous neighbour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan. "It may be noted that prior to the takeover by the Taliban, India had been implementing projects and programmes with a commitment of over USD 3 billion aimed towards development, reconstruction, and capacity building in Afghanistan," he said during the meeting titled
"Preventing economic collapse and exploring prospects for recovery and development in Afghanistan." Counsellor Madhu Sudan said India's development partnership in Afghanistan encompassed people-centric projects in all 34 provinces and aimed at making the country self-sustaining.
"We also operationalised air freight corridors and the Chabahar Port to enhance regional connectivity to Afghanistan. However, the change in the political situation has resulted in slowing down of our projects for different reasons," he added.
He also said that New Delhi's approach to Afghanistan will always be guided by historical friendship and our special relationship with the people of Afghanistan. "It was in this regard that we supported and welcomed the Security Council resolution 2615 (2021) which provided a humanitarian carve-out from the 1988 sanctions regime," he added.
(With ANI Inputs)