India diverting attention from Kashmir: Pak on Uri attack

Pakistan today accused India of misleading the world opinion to cover up its "reign of terror" in Kashmir by a spate of "vitriolic" and "unsubstantiated" statements following the terror attack in Uri that killed 17 soldiers.

"Pakistan has noted with serious concern the recent spate of vitriolic and unsubstantiated statements emanating from Indian civil and military leadership in the aftermath of yesterday's attack" in Uri, Sartaj Aziz, the advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, said.

He said Pakistan categorically rejects the baseless and irresponsible accusations being levelled by senior officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Government.

"It is a blatant attempt on India's part to deflect attention from the fast deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation" in Kashmir since the death of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.

He said that the situation in Kashmir is not of Pakistan's making but a direct consequence of "illegal Indian occupation and a long history of atrocities that has resulted in over a 100 thousand deaths".

"Nobody has been spared the brute state force including the elderly, wounded patients in hospitals as women and children. This should awaken international conscience," Aziz said.

Reacting to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's statement Pakistan is a "terrorist state" and should be isolated, Aziz said that it was deplorable that the Indian Minister chose to blame Pakistan for the incident even prior to conducting proper investigation.

"The statement is part of a pattern to mislead world opinion and cover up India's reign of terror in Kashmir, the statement said.

Heavily-armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Indian Army in North Kashmir's Uri town in the wee hours yesterday, killing 17 jawans and injuring 19 other personnel in the attack in which all four terrorists were neutralised.

It was the worst attack on the Indian Army in many years.

Aziz, in his address at NAM summit in Venezuela as the Pakistan delegation head, had said peace in South Asia cannot be achieved without the settlement of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Aziz in a statement "called for a just settlement of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council Resolution, which was an essential pre-requisite for peace in South Asia".

Foreign Office (FO) in a statement today said that in line with Pakistan's stance, the outcome document clearly opposes attempts to equate "legitimate" struggle for the right to self-determination with terrorism.

FO said that Aziz's statement at the NAM Summit also condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Aziz also said that Pakistan is ready to share its counter terrorism experience with other NAM countries.

In view of new alignments and re-alignments that are redefining the global geo-strategic and political landscape, Aziz also proposed to setup a high-level panel to undertake a thorough review of the priorities of NAM, with a view to making it a 'Movement of Solidarity' that safeguards the interests of developing countries.