Right of Reply by India under Agenda Item 9 at the

42^nd Session of the Human Rights Council (09-27 September 2019)

delivered by Mr. S. Senthil Kumar, First Secretary,

Permanent Mission of India [Geneva, 24 September 2019]

Mr. Vice-President,

1.We exercise our right to reply to the statement made by Pakistan on Agenda Item 9, today.

2. We deplore repeated misuse of the Council by Pakistan with fabricated narratives against India.

3. We will advise Pakistan to look into its own cases of hatred, discrimination and intolerance committed against ethnic minorities in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh. Any rhetoric by Pakistan will not divert international attention from Pakistan’s persecution and elimination of religious and ethnic minorities – be it the Christians, Sikhs, Shias, Ahmadiyas and Hindus.

4. Our decision in Jammu and Kashmir is within our sovereign right and is an internal matter of India. As asserted earlier, Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Pakistan’s nefarious designs will never succeed because the people of India are united in their determination to preserve our territorial integrity along with our core values of democracy, tolerance and unity in diversity.

Thank you, Mr. Vice-President.

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