New York: India has reacted strongly after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a resolution to the Kashmir issue, during his address at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday.
Expressing his “pleasure” with the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Erdogan said that the Kashmir issue should be resolved on the basis of UN resolutions.
“We are pleased with the ceasefire achieved following the tensions last April between Pakistan and India, which had escalated into a conflict… The issue of Kashmir should be resolved on the basis of the resolutions of the UN, for the best of our sisters and brothers in Kashmir, through dialogue, we hope,” Erdogan said at UNGA.
Ties between India and Turkey are at an all-time low following Istanbul’s material and moral support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to Erdogan’s statement and made it clear that no country has any right to comment on Jammu and Kashmir.
“Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. No other country has any locus standi to comment on it. Instead of commenting on the internal affairs of another country, it would have been appropriate if Pakistan’s policy of using cross-border terrorism against India, which remains the biggest threat for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, had been called out,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
This is not the first time Erdogan has raised the Kashmir issue at the UN. However, he skipped a mention of the Indian territory during last year’s session. That was because Turkey was then making a bid to join BRICS, of which India is an integral part.
The Turkish president resumed his anti-India stance thereafter and earlier this year, during a visit to Pakistan, Erdogan called for a resolution for the Kashmir issue through dialogue and a UN resolution.
“The Kashmir issue should be addressed according to the UN resolution through dialogue and keeping in mind the aspirations of the people of Kashmir. Our state and our nation, as in the past, stands in solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers today,” Erdogan had then said.
