Kashmir Issue: India, Pakistan face off in Male

Male : The deputy chairman of India's Rajya Sabha and the deputy speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly exchanged heated arguments over the Kashmir Issue while participating in the South Asian Speakers' Summit in the Maldives on Sunday.

The heated argument started after Qasim Suri, the deputy speaker of Pakistan's lower house of Parliament, said that the "oppression" of the Kashmiri cannot be ignored and Pakistan stands by the Kashmiris.

He said the Kashmir issue should be settled in line with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Reacting sharply to it Harivansh Narayan Singh, the deputy chairman of India's upper house of Parliament, with the speaker's permission, said, "We strongly object to the raising of internal matter of India in this forum. We also reject the politicalisation of this forum by raising issues which are extraneous to the theme of this summit.

"There is a need for Pakistan to end cross-border terrorism and all kinds of state support to the same in the interest of regional peace and stability."

Singh accused Pakistan of "genocide" that led to creation of a separate country and questioned Islamabad's moral right to raise the Kashmir issue.

High tension between India and Pakistan spiked on August 5 when the former abrogated Article 370 of Indian constitution.