Hindutva politics, India’s unilateral actions harm ties, says Pakistan’s new security policy
The document said a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute was at the core of the bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad.
In its first-ever national security policy, Pakistan said that its ties with India were stressed because of Hindutva politics and unilateral actions in pending matters, PTI reported.
The document “Foreign Policy in a Changing World” was unveiled by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday at Islamabad, according to the Dawn. It highlighted the approach Pakistan needs to maintain to protect its citizens and the country’s economic interests.
India is mentioned at least 16 times, more than any other nation, in the document, The Indian Express reported. Kashmir has been mentioned 113 times, according to ThePrint.
The document stated that India’s “pursuit of unilateral policy actions on outstanding issues are attempts to impose one-sided solutions that can have far-reaching negative consequences for regional stability”, PTI reported.
It added that a just and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was at the core of India and Pakistan’s bilateral relationship, according to PTI.
The document said that Pakistan has also extended “moral, diplomatic, political, and legal support to the people of Kashmir until they achieve their right to self-determination guaranteed by the international community as per United Nations Security Council resolutions”.
India and Pakistan have vociferously criticised each other’s stance on Kashmir at several United Nations General Assembly meetings.
In October, Pakistan had accused India of human rights violations in Kashmir, killing almost a lakh residents of the region since 1991 and even using rape as the weapon of war.
India has retorted to the claims saying that Jammu and Kashmir will be a part of India and instead, castigated Pakistan for perpetrating terrorism in the Union Territory.
In September, India at the United Nations General Assembly had said that Pakistan played the victim of terrorism even as it fostered terrorists in its backyard.
Meanwhile, Pakistan in its national security document has said that it had no tolerance for groups that pursue terrorism in the country, PTI reported.
The policy, however, acknowledges the fact that “employment of terrorism has become a preferred policy choice for hostile actors in addition to soft intrusion through various non-kinetic means”.
