AAMIR LATIF
KARACHI (AA): Pakistan accused India of interference and carrying out terrorism in its territory in a dossier handed over to the UN on Friday in yet another sign of worsening ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
According to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, gave the dossier to the global body’s Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, which contained “proof of Indian intelligence agencies’ interference in Pakistan and involvement in terrorism” in the militancy-hit southwestern Balochistan province.
The dossier also included a “confessional” statement by Kulbhushan Jadhav, an alleged agent of Indian intelligence agency RAW, who was reportedly arrested in Balochistan last year.
Pakistan urged the UN chief and other relevant UN bodies to “seriously consider the matter”, adding that it continued to desire peace with all its neighbors, including India.
Tensions between the two nuclear rivals have increased since India accused Pakistan of having links to gunmen who killed 19 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir in September 2016.
Pakistan has denied the charge and accuses India of repressing pro-independence protests that started in the disputed Himalayan region in July 2016 when more than 100 Kashmiri civilians were killed allegedly by Indian forces and thousands others were injured.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.
Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan. More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.
