Kashmir should be handled bilaterally by India, Pakistan: China

China said on Friday the Kashmir issue should be handled bilaterally by India and Pakistan, sidestepping a demand from Islamabad that the United Nations should appoint a special envoy for the region.

Responding to a question on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) asking for UN resolutions on Kashmir to be implemented, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said the matter was left over from history and New Delhi and Islamabad should increase their interactions to address the matter.

“China’s position on the Kashmir issue is clear-cut. The Kashmir issue is left over from history. China hopes India and Pakistan can increase dialogue and communication and properly handle relevant issues and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability,” Lu told a regular news briefing.

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had urged the world body to appoint a special envoy for Kashmir and claimed the “struggle” by the people of the region is being “brutally suppressed” by India.

While responding to Abbasi’s statement on Friday, the Indian delegate referred to Pakistan as “Terroristan”.

“In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror,” Indian diplomat Eenam Gambhir said in her speech.

In her strongly worded speech, Gambhir said it was extraordinary that the country which protected and sheltered al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and Afghan Taliban head Mullah Omar was now playing the victim.

“By now, all Pakistan’s neighbours are painfully familiar with these tactics to create a narrative based on distortions, deception and deceit. This august assembly and the world beyond know that efforts at creating alternative facts do not change reality,” she said.

She added, “The quest for a land of pure has actually produced ‘the land of pure terror’. Pakistan is now ‘Terroristan’, with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism.”

Abbasi, delivering his maiden address to the UN General Assembly, also accused India of indulging in terror activities against Pakistan and warned of a “matching response” if it “ventures across the Line of Control” or acts on any doctrine of limited war against Pakistan.