Last week, both nations accused one another of firing live rounds and violating a ceasefire along the Lone of Control boundary in the region. The issue was brought up in the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
In it, Pawan Badhe, India’s first secretary of the country’s permanent mission of India in Geneva, called Pakistan “an epicentre of terrorism”.
According to an Economic Times report on proceedings, the first secretary said: “The nefarious designs of Pakistan continue in Pakistan Occupied parts of Indian Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
“Pakistan does well when it comes to intimidation and attacks against journalists, human rights defenders and political dissidents in particular by its state machinery.”
He also hit out at Turkey and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, both of which had supposedly made comments on the internal affairs of India.
The first secretary added: “We reject the reference made by the OIC to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral part of India.”
It is not clear what Turkey or the OIC said to have attracted this response.
Tensions have also flared between India and China in recent months following a deadly clash between forces on both sides on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which runs serves as a boundary between them.
20 Indian soldiers were killed in the hand-to-hand clash, though the number of Chinese casualties has remained debated.
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Indeed, 321 non-governmental organisations have urged the UN to crack down on human rights abuses in China.
Their statement made in an open letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, and UN Member States published by Amnesty.
The letter reads: “We are dismayed at China’s efforts to distort the mandate of the UN Human Rights Council by promoting “cooperation” over accountability, and opposing initiatives to bring scrutiny of serious rights violations and international crimes in countries around the world.
“It has sought to deny access to human rights defenders to UN premises, denounced speakers on NGO side events as ‘terrorists,’ and threatened delegates to deter them from attending UN side events on rights violations, including abuses in Xinjiang.”
China’s foreign minister Zhao Lijian responded to the letter, saying: “The groundless allegations of these organisations are not worth refuting,” according to CNS News.
China has been part of the HRC since the council’s 2006 foundation. There are 47 seats altogether.