India has scoffed at the Pakistani envoy to China’s assertions that around “200 innocent Kashmiris have been killed, around 50 cases of rape and molestation and nearly 1,000 cases of destruction of houses and property have been reported”. Ambassador Moin ul Haque’s claims were contained in an interview with the Chinese newspaper the Global Times’
In a rebuttal, India said that Ambassador Haque “has chosen to repeat Pakistan’s lies and half-truths vis-a-vis the Union Territory (federally administered territory) of Jammu and Kashmir”. New Delhi said that Pakistan or any other country has no right to interfere in India’s internal affairs.
The Indian mission in Beijing said that the Global Times declined to carry its response to the interview, which it later shared on social media.
“India’s concerted efforts to bring peace, stability and progress to J&K stand in stark contrast to Pakistan’s strategy, which is little more than a blatant and rapacious campaign of cross-border terrorism aimed at debilitating the region”, countered India's mission in Beijing.
— India in China (@EOIBeijing) August 13, 2020
India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on 5 August 2019 to withdraw the special status enjoyed by the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and divide it into two federally administered territories.
New Delhi’s move angered Islamabad, which claims to be a stakeholder in Kashmir, and Pakistan suspended diplomatic, trade and communication links. Earlier this month, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed that India had been “trapped” with its Kashmir policy and that the region would be free from “India’s reign of terror”.
Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947. They have also fought two wars over Kashmir.
