New York/Sept,23 : India has called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks on Jammu & Kashmir in his addess to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) “completely unacceptable” as the president said New Delhi’s decisions related to the region had complicated the conflict.
During the general debate, the Turkish president said the topic of Jammu and Kashmir remained a “burning issue”, and that it was important to the stability and peace of South Asia. “Steps taken following the abolition of the special status of Jammu-Kashmir further complicated the problem,” Erdogan said in a pre-recorded video message.
Erdogan also called for the Kashmir matter to be resolved through dialogue. “We are in favour of solving this issue through dialogue within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, especially in line with the expectations of the people of Kashmir,” he added.
Hours after Erdogan’s comments, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti tweeted: “We have seen remarks by President of Turkey on Indian UT of Jammu and Kashmir. They constitute gross interference in India’s internal affairs and are completely unacceptable. Turkey should learn to respect sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply.”
On August 5, 2019, the Indian government had passed two bills in Parliament that split the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, stripped it off its special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Since then, the region has been placed under the strictest lockdown in its history, with 4G internet services still suspended.
On August 3, two days before the anniversary of India’s administrative changes to the region, Turkey’s foreign ministry had claimed that New Delhi’s move to rescind the region’s special status had not “contributed to the peace and stability in the region”. India’s external affairs ministry had then called the comments “factually incorrect, biased and unwarranted”.
