NEW DELHI: Armed with the confession of Pakistan-born militant Bahadur Ali, who was arrested during a gunfight at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on July 25, India on Tuesday summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner here and issued him a demarche for the continuing cross-border terrorism originating from his country.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar called in Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit to South Block and issued the demarche. Demarches are diplomatic tools used by governments to register protest with other governments.
“The government of India strongly protests against the continued infiltration from Pakistan of trained terrorists with instructions to carry out attacks. This is contrary to assurances given by Pakistani leaders at the highest level,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Bahadur has written a letter addressed to the Pakistan High Commissioner and requested legal aid and assistance to meet his family. “We are prepared to give Pakistan consular access to Bahadur Ali,” the demarche said. Bahadur alias Saifulla was arrested along with weaponsand sophisticated communication equipment. .
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif shot off letters to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urging efforts to end the “persistent and egregious violation of the basic human rights” of the Kashmiri people and also to implement UN Security Council resolutions.
“It is an obligation for me as Prime Minister of Pakistan to become the voice of Kashmiris who have been oppressed in Kashmir. I will leave no stone unturned to make the world understand the plight and the legitimate struggle of the people of Kashmir,” Sharif said, adding that the denial of the right to self-determination for Kashmiris was one of the “persistent failures” of the UN.