India slams Pakistan for abetting cross-border terrorism

New Delhi : India on Wednesday slammed Pakistan for abetting cross-border terrorism and said Islamabad's continued support to terror groups is the "main challenge" for New Delhi.

"Terrorism is the grossest violation of human rights and should be acknowledged so by any impartial and objective observer," Indian diplomat Nabanita Chakrabarti told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

She blamed Pakistan for destabilising Jammu and Kashmir by promoting infiltration and cross-border terrorism.

"Pakistan-backed terror outfits are main challenge to human rights of our citizens in Jammu and Kashmir," she said in response to Pakistan's statement during the 34th session of the council.

Expressing concern over the rising sectarian conflict and economic hardship in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, she said: "Jammu and Kashmir is a part of a pluralistic and secular democracy, where an independent judiciary, and active media and a vibrant civil society guarantee freedoms.

She said PoK is administered by a "Deep State" and has become a hub for global export of terror.

Nabanita Chakrabarti emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the situation there is its internal matter.

"Pakistan must rein in its compulsive hostility towards India and demand that they (Pakistan) fulfil its obligation to vacate illegal occupation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir."

Earlier at the UNHRC, Pakistan had said that "the repression in Jammu and Kashmir is the most reprehensible manifestation of the flogging of human rights and the unleashing of violence by an increasingly communal and extremist state".