Pakistan’s foreign minister said Thursday he has written to the United Nations to warn the world body of what he says are actions by New Delhi to position missile launchers in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.
In the letter Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he wrote earlier this month he said he fears India plans to launch an attack on Pakistan to divert international attention from human rights violations in Kashmir. The minister did not offer evidence to support his claim of missiles being placed in the disputed Himalayan region. There was no immediate comment from India.
These are “Indian actions that continue to escalate tensions in an already tense environment in South Asia,” Qureshi said, demanding the U.N. respond to the purported moves by India.
Tensions between Pakistan and India have been heightened since Aug. 5, when India changed the status of its part of Kashmir, drawing protests from Pakistan. India has since eased restrictions in Kashmir.
Pakistan’s top diplomat also claimed in the letter to the U.N. that India has partially removed the fence in five areas along the so-called Line of Control of the heavily militarized Kashmir, which is divided between the two nuclear rivals and claimed by both in its entirety.
Pakistani and Indian troops often exchange fire in Kashmir, causing civilian and troop casualties.
In the latest such incident, Pakistan’s military said the Indian army Thursday resorted to unprovoked fire in the village of Jura in Kashmir, killing two civilians and wounding two others. In a statement, it said in a subsequent exchange of fire, three Pakistani troops were wounded and an Indian post was damaged.
Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over control of Kashmir since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947. They nearly went to war again in February, when a suicide bombing in Indian-run part of Kashmir killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers. India at the time responded by bombing an alleged militant training camp in Pakistan. Islamabad later said its forces downed two Indian air force planes and captured an Indian pilot, who was later released.
