Conflicts & War

India accuses Pakistan of misinformation over missile mishap in OIC summit

New Delhi, Mar 24 (EFE).- India on Thursday accused Pakistan of manipulating information over an Indian missile launched into Pakistani territory “by mistake” earlier this month, after the Organisation of Islamic Countries demanded a joint investigation into the incident by New Delhi and Islamabad.

“The statements and resolutions adopted at the meeting demonstrate both the irrelevance of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as a body and role of Pakistan as its manipulator,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.

The reaction comes after the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement that the OIC had endorsed “Pakistan’s call on India for a joint probe into 9 March 2022 missile incident.

“We express grave concern over the violation of Pakistan’s airspace, threat to passenger aircraft and dangers to peace and security in South Asia arising from the launch of supersonic missile (…). We call on India to fully abide by international law and norms of responsible State behavior and conduct a joint probe,” the bloc said in its resolution.

The Indian spokesperson attacked the OIC by saying that “the absurdity of this body commenting on the treatment of minorities, that too at the instance of a serial violator of human rights like Pakistan, is so evident.”

Bagchi also responded sharply to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi – who was present as a a special invitee in the OIC summit held in Islamabad on Tuesday and Wednesday – referring to the conflict over India’s Jammu and Kashmir region.

The Indian spokesperson insisted that Kashmir was an “internal affair” of India and rejected the “uncalled reference” to it by the Chinese top diplomat in his speech during the opening ceremony of the OIC meet.

“Matters related to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir are entirely the internal affairs of India. Other countries including China have no locus standi to comment. They should note that India refrains from public judgement of their internal issues,” Bagchi said.

Situated on the foothills of the Himalayas, Kashmir is India’s only Muslim-majority region, for which it has fought several wars with Pakistan, with the bilateral conflict dating back to 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into two countries after its independence from the British empire.

The tensions rose further when New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status in August 2019 and divided it into two federally-administered territories directly controlled by the central government. EFE

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