‘Living in la-la land’: India slams Pakistan for ‘constant propaganda’ at UN India News

New Delhi: India on Thursday lashed out at Pakistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying if the country found it difficult to believe that Jammu and Kashmir’s development budget is more than double the bailout package it recently sought from the International Monetary Fund, then Islamabad must be “hallucinating” or living in a “La La Land”.India also refuted allegations by Pakistan and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that the organization itself was allowed to be used as an “echo chamber” for a member state, further adding that Islamabad’s “constant propaganda is filled with jealousy”.“India is forced to exercise its right of reply on issues raised by Pakistan and the Organization of the Islamic Conference at high-level meetings. We categorically reject these allegations,” First Secretary Anupama Singh said while exercising India’s right of reply at the high-level meeting of the 55th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. “We’re not trying to sugarcoat it, but we’re going to make a few points to break it down with facts,” she added.Singh reiterated New Delhi’s long-standing position and asserted that “Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will remain an integral part of India”. “Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always be an integral part of India. No matter how much wishful rhetoric or bold propaganda there is by Pakistan, it cannot change the unchangeable fact that Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India is completely legal and irrevocable in accordance with the Indian Independence Act, 1947 and international law,” Singh said.She added that “the only unresolved dispute in the region is Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Indian territory” and called on Islamabad to withdraw from areas under its control.Singh highlighted the infrastructural and economic progress of Jammu and Kashmir and mentioned the Chenab Railway Bridge, calling it the world’s highest railway bridge inaugurated in the region last year. “If the Chenab Railway Bridge, the world’s tallest bridge inaugurated in Jammu and Kashmir last year, is fake, then Pakistan must be hallucinating or living in ‘La La Land’,” she said.“Alternatively, it may be mind-boggling that Jammu and Kashmir’s development budget is more than double the bailout package it recently sought from the International Monetary Fund,” she added.Responding to criticism of the democratic process, Singh said, “It is difficult to listen to a lecture on democracy from a country where civilian governments rarely complete their terms.”She pointed out that the voter turnout in the recent general and assembly elections in J&K proved that the people of the region had “rejected the ideology of terrorism and violence” and were embarking on the path of development.Singh further accused Pakistan of trying to destabilize the region through “ruthless state-sponsored terrorism” while insisting that J&K would continue to make political, economic and social progress.“Pakistan would do well if it focused on resolving its deepening internal crisis rather than covering it up through grandstanding on a platform like this,” she said, adding that “the world can certainly see through its pretense.”The exchange marked the latest round of bitter diplomatic spat between India and Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir at multilateral forums including the United Nations Human Rights Commission.