India on Wednesday again lashed out at Pakistan for raising the Kashmir matter at the United Nations, accusing it of taking to hate speech “just as a fish takes to water”, PTI reported. “Every time this [Pakistani] delegation speaks, it spews venom and false narratives of monumental proportions,” India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu, told the General Assembly.

Naidu was speaking at a session on “Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organisation”. Earlier, Saad Ahmed Warraich, counsellor at the Pakistan mission to the UN, had raised the Jammu and Kashmir matter, saying that the situation in the region reflects the “abdication” of the UN’s responsibility to discharge its responsibilities.

In his response, Naidu said Pakistan “indulges in confabulations and obfuscates the international community from the truth” instead of putting an end to the “bellicose and vitriolic diatribe” and taking steps for normal relations with India.

“It’s extremely surprising that a country that has completely decimated its minority population talks about protecting minorities,” the diplomat said. “Pakistan’s practice of using false pretenses to distract from addressing the malaise that afflicts it has run its course. Pakistan needs to reflect that there are no takers for its false rhetoric and should get down to the normal business of diplomacy.”

Last week, the United Nations Security Council had discussed Kashmir for the second time in five months, on a request from China, an ally of Pakistan. The Security Council meeting was convened to discuss the situation in Mali, but China brought in the Kashmir agenda. Four other permanent members of the Security Council – France, Russia, United States and United Kingdom – took part in the discussion.

However, the attempt failed as other countries of the 15-member council maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.

India had then castigated Pakistan for raising the matter through China. “The overwhelming majority of UNSC were of view that UNSC was not the right forum was such issues and that this should be discussed bilaterally between India and Pakistan,” the Ministry of External Affairs had said.

On January 9, India had accused Pakistan of peddling misinformation at the UN and said the country “epitomised the dark arts”.