Strongly reacting to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna'sreference to Kashmir at the UN, Pakistan has claimed that Jammu and Kashmir hadnever been an integral part of India and said President Asif Ali Zardari'sstatement on the issue was "not unwarranted".
Pakistan's mission to the UN said it was exercising its'Right of Reply' regarding the remarks made by the Indian minister that an"unwarranted" reference to Jammu and Kashmir was made at the UnitedNations.
In the Right of Reply submitted to the UN General AssemblyPresident following Krishna's address, Pakistan's Deputy PermanentRepresentative Ambassador Raza Bashir Tarar said, "Let me begin byemphasising that the reference to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in thePresident of Pakistan's statement was not 'unwarranted'."
"Let me also make absolutely clear that Jammu andKashmir is neither an integral part of India nor has it ever been," astatement issued by the Pakistan mission here quoted Tarar as saying.
Tarar quoted from Zardari's speech at the UN last week inwhich the Pakistan President had said that Kashmir remained a "symbol ofthe failures" and not the strengths of the UN system.
