Desist from making comments on J&K, India to Pakistan

Angry at the series of "deeply objectionable" comments by Pakistan over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, India on Wednesday night asked the neighbouring country to immediately stop such "rhetoric", which has done no good to it in the past.

New Delhi particularly took strong objection to moves by Islamabad to approach global bodies like the United Nations over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, dubbing these as "gratuitous and illegal" reflecting Pakistan's "reversion to a mindset that has led to no good consequences for Pakistan in the past."

After its Tuesday's protest was ignored, the external affairs ministry said India is "witnessing a recurrence of Pakistani rhetoric and allegations that are factually wrong and that bear no relationship to reality."

MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna told reporters that India "finds deeply objectionable the series of remarks by the official spokesman and leaders in Pakistan on recent events in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir."

India's angry reaction came hours after Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said Pakistan was approaching the international community, particularly the UN, Organisation of Islamic Conference and human rights bodies, urging them to "take notice" of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said his country regretted the "excessive and unwarranted use of force" against people in Jammu and Kashmir, even after India protested against a similar remark made by him a day earlier.

"It is not too late for Pakistani leaders and spokesmen to desist from the course of action that they have recently embarked upon and we would urge them to do so forthwith," Sarna said.

India on Tuesday said the comments by Pakistan on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was "clear interference" in this country's internal affairs and cautioned that such remarks would not help the atmosphere for moving the bilateral talks process forward.

The spokesman had said such statements do not contribute to "creating the atmosphere necessary for the dialogue process between India and Pakistan to move forward."