NEW DELHI: India on Monday played down UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres remark on Kashmir as he arrived in New Delhi on a four-day official visit, accompanied by a six-member delegation.
Just before leaving New York for Delhi after the conclusion of the UN General Assembly session, Guterres had said, “I remain concerned by the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. I encourage positive dialogue for disagreements to be resolved peacefully.”
He also hailed India’s significant contributions to the UN, and said that the world body “welcomes a greater role for India in addressing the challenges of regional peace and security”.
“This not something new, and should not be seen as interference in India’s internal matters,” said an Indian official. Before his arrival, Guterres received two letters: one from Kashmiri separatist leaders under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership, and another from Panun Kashmir (PK), an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Hindus.
The letter from separatist leaders — signed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik — said that India’s refusal to hold dialogue was doing “unimaginable harm” not only to Kashmir, but to the entire South Asian region. Drawing his attention to alleged rights violations by Indian forces, it said “the lack of sustained attention by the international community to this aspect” and “not calling India to account on this score” had emboldened its armed forces.
The other letter from the Panun Kashmir sent last Thursday urged Guterres to ask the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to correct its recent report accusing India of “human rights violations in Kashmir”. Signed by PK chief Ashwani Chrungoo and its overseas chairman Sanjay Kaul, it pointed out that the UNHRC had based its report on a one-sided story of the Kashmir situation fed to them by separatist elements. It also urged him to convene a special session on the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits at UNHRC level.
Guterres would be participating in Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention at Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre on Tuesday to mark the launch of Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations.