‘Unwarranted & Unacceptable’: MEA on UNGA Prez’s Kashmir Comment

The PGA noted that the final status of J&K is to be settled by peaceful means in accordance with the UN Charter.

UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir.

(Photo: Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

India on Friday, 28 May, referred to the remarks of the President of United Nations General Assembly Volkan Bozkir as “unwarranted” and “unacceptable”, expressing grave opposition to Bozkir’s comments on the Jammu and Kashmir region.

The comments were made on Thursday, during a media interaction along with Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

In response, spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said, "We express our strong opposition to the unwarranted references made with respect to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by the President of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA) Volkan Bozkir during his recent visit to Pakistan,” news agency ANI reported.

He added that the UNGA’s appeal that “Pakistan is ‘duty-bound’ to raise the issue of J&K in the UN more strongly is unacceptable” and said that there is no basis for comparison of the Kashmir issue to other global situations.

Calling the comments “prejudiced” and “misleading” the MEA spokesperson stated, “When an incumbent President of the UN General Assembly makes misleading and prejudiced remarks, he does great disservice to the office he occupies. The PGA’s behaviour is truly regrettable and surely diminishes his standing on the global platform.”

On Thursday, the PGA referred to his office a “impartial” and reiterated that the UN position on Jammu and Kashmir is governed by the UN Charter and applicable Security Council resolutions, Hindustan Times reported.

Highlighting India and Pakistan’s Simla agreement of 1972, he said “The final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means in accordance with the UN Charter and this is, I think, very important that we must all remember.”