India categorically told Turkey on Tuesday to “learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations” after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the Kashmir issue in his speech at the UN General Assembly earlier that day.
“We have seen the President of Turkey’s comments on the Jammu & Kashmir Indian TU,” TS Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the UN, said in a tweet. “They constitute a great interference in the internal affairs of India and they are completely unacceptable. Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect more deeply on its own policies. “
Erdogan called the Kashmir “conflict” a “hot topic” in his virtual speech during the UNGA debate, saying: “The measures taken after the abolition of Jammu-Kashmir’s special status further complicated the problem.”
He added: “We are in favor of solving this problem through dialogue, within the framework of United Nations resolutions and especially in line with the expectations of the Kashmiri people.”
Look at ‘Gross Interference’: India Criticizes Turkish President Erdogan’s Remarks on Kashmir
India believes that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved bilaterally with Pakistan and under the Simla Agreement. It is a position that is widely accepted by the international community, including finally by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who tried, and failed, to intervene in the dispute with offers to mediate.
Erdogan had also raised the issue in 2019, rallying around Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s attempt to draw more international attention to Kashmir at the UNGA. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was the only other leader to side with Pakistan at the time.
In his 2019 speech, the Turkish president accused the international community of not having “failed” to devote sufficient attention to Kashmir, saying: “For the people of Kashmir to see a secure future together with their Pakistani and Indian neighbors, it is imperative solve the problem through dialogue and on the basis of justice and equity, but not through collision ”.
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