New Delhi, Aug 4: India on Tuesday renewed its call on Pakistan to take decisive action against cross-border terrorism and rejected the second phase of local elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), describing the exercise as a “complete farce”.
Responding to a question during the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) bi-weekly media briefing on a video circulated by a militant group blaming India for the killing of some of its commanders, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India’s position on terrorism.
“Cross-border terrorism, we continue to call upon countries to take strong action against cross-border terrorism and those promoting cross-border terrorism. We call upon Pakistan to take strong action against cross-border terrorism and the terrorist infrastructure that they have on their soil that needs to be dismantled,” Jaiswal said.
Replying to another question on the second phase of local elections in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the spokesperson said the electoral exercise could not conceal the ground reality in the region. “This so-called local elections in PoK is a complete farce. The real happening is that of public protest and wanton killings by Pakistani forces. Such hollow exercises cannot hide realities. Since June this year, at least 90 civilians have lost their lives in the continuing crackdown, many more have been injured,” Jaiswal said.
He alleged that “the Pakistan establishment has answered public discontent with bullets, blackouts, intimidation and repression, and now seeks to manufacture legitimacy through a hollow electoral exercise.”
“It must be held accountable, and the world should see through the veneer of Pakistan’s hypocritical lecturing on human rights,” the MEA spokesperson added.
