Lashing out at Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday, 9 September, said that the opposition parties in India stand united with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue being raised at the United Nations.
"Pakistan has no locus standi as far as India's internal matters are concerned. We are in Opposition, we can criticise the government in the country over Kashmir, but outside India, we are one. We will not give even an inch to Pakistan," Tharoor said, news agency ANI reported.
Earlier during the day, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi embarked on a three-day visit to Geneva where he will be addressing the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the Kashmir issue .
Tharoor hit out at Pakistan and accused it of changing the internal status of Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in the past.
"What they are trying to accuse us of today, they have done that on their side in the past. They changed the status of Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. They, therefore, have no right to point fingers at us,” he told reporters in New Delhi.
Asserting that the Opposition parties are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, the Congress leader reportedly said the "PM of India is heard with respect at the UN, he should go and speak. We are with him."
Tharoor, however, said that the problems faced by Kashmiris in the aftermath of abrogation of Article 370 were real and added that the opposition parties will continue to question the central government on the methods used in Kashmir.
"We must understand that the ordeals faced by our Kashmiri brethren are real. The people were left without internet and telephones. Parents could not talk with their children. Political leaders were detained; Farooq Abdullah, an elected MP, was not allowed to attend meetings. We have raised these issues in the Parliament and will continue to raise them inside the country," he said, according to ANI.
(With inputs from ANI)
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