NEW DELHI: India issued a strong demarche to Turkey over its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statements expressing concern over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and for comparing the struggle of the Kashmiri people to Turkey’s fight during World War I.
“These remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy. They distort events of the past to advance a narrow minded view of the present. This recent episode is but one more example of a pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. India finds that completely unacceptable,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a strong-worded statement.
Kumar said that New Delhi rejects repeated attempts made by Turkey to justify the cross-border terrorism that is practised ‘so blatantly’ by Pakistan. “These developments have strong implications for our bilateral relationship,” the statement read.
Erdogan, in his address to a joint session of Pakistan’s Parliament had compared the ‘struggle’ of the Kashmiri people against foreign domination during World War I.
On Saturday, India had urged Turkey not to interfere in its internal affairs saying Kashmir was an integral and inalienable part of India.Monday’s demarche was issued by Secretary (West) Vikas Swarup to the Turkish Ambassador.
Imran raises refugee crisis bogey
Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Monday said his country may be staring at another refugee crisis if the global community did not take notice of the situation in Kashmir. His comments were made in the presence of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is on a four-day trip to Pakistan. “This is not the India of Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. The UN must play its role otherwise it will become a very big problem in the future,” Khan said at a summit.