Pakistan, India accuse each other of sponsoring terrorism at UN

Pakistan has filed a report with the United Nations (UN) chief accusing India of fueling terrorism in Pakistan, a day after India circulated a dossier among some UN Security Council members alleging an attack was attempted in its part of disputed Kashmir by Pakistan-based militants.

Pakistan’s apparent tit-for-tat move came on Tuesday, ahead of India occupying a seat in the 15-member Security Council for a two-year term that is due to start on January 1, 2012.

In the report, Pakistan’s Permanent UN Representative Munir Akram called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the international community “to take note of Indian terrorism and subversion against Pakistan and to prevail on India to desist from these illegal and aggressive activities.”

He accused New Delhi of violating international law, the UN Charter, and Security Council resolutions by sponsoring terrorism.

Denying the Pakistani accusations, a spokesperson for India’s UN mission in New York used strong language to assert, “Pakistan can cry hoarse from the rooftops,” and said the country was “the epicenter of terrorism.”

In its dossier on Monday, India alleged that four militants from a Pakistan-based outfit had infiltrated into the Indian-administered Kashmir through a tunnel last week and opened fire when their truck was stopped for a routine inspection.

Pakistan, however, has denied New Delhi’s accusation of involvement in the alleged attack, insisting that such allegations were intended to divert attention from India’s repression of the people in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region.

The development came less than two weeks after an exchange of gunfire between Indian and Pakistani forces across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir killed at least 15 people, including five security personnel, and wounded dozens of others.

India, Pakistan exchange fire across Kashmir border, 15 killed

At least 15 people are killed as Indian and Pakistani forces exchange fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting pro-independence militants in Kashmir, an allegation rejected by the Pakistani government. Islamabad, in turn, is critical of India’s heavy military deployment to Kashmir and its crackdown against the region’s Muslim population.

India last year scrapped the semi-autonomy of its part of Kashmir. New Delhi also unilaterally introduced a series of laws that locals say are aimed at shifting the region’s demographics and economically disempowering local residents.

Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which have fought three of their four wars over the disputed Himalayan territory. Each nuclear-armed country rules parts of Kashmir while claiming it in full.

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