ISLAMABAD: A day after India left a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) midway to protest the presentation of Pakistan’s new political map, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that New Delhi was losing credibility at international forums due to its aggressive posturing.
India National Security Adviser Ajit Doval Tuesday walked out during a speech by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf at the virtual meeting of the SCO when Russia overruled his objection to the presentation of the country’s new political map, which was on display in latter’s background, which identifies occupied Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory and shows the regions of Sir Creek and the erstwhile state of Junagadh in Gujarat as part of the territory.
In a statement issued later in the day, Dr Yusuf’s office said that India’s “spurious claims were rejected as it faced defeat after its formal objection to Pakistan’s new political map was overruled”. The map remained on display in the background during Yusuf’s address.
Qureshi, in a statement, said India’s objection to Pakistan’s political map at the meeting was rejected which caused embarrassment for Delhi.
“Russia, the host of the meeting, did not accept India’s perspective,” he said, adding that India had violated the organisation’s rules by raising the issue at the platform.
“Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory and there are UN resolutions about the issue,” he said.
Qureshi added that China had repeatedly offered to resolve issues with India at the de-facto border at Ladakh through dialogue. “[But] India adopted an aggressive posture and then faced humiliation,” he said, adding that China responded to Indian aggression.
‘FICTITIOUS MAP’:
Following Doval’s walkout, the Ministry of External Affairs released a statement saying that Pakistan’s representative “deliberately projected a fictitious map,” Hindustan Times reported.
“The Pakistani national security adviser deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating. This was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting,” said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the ministry.
“After consultation with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at that juncture. As was to be expected, Pakistan then went on to present a misleading view of this meeting,” Srivastava added.
In response to this statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said “the map reaffirms Pakistan’s commitment to the UN Security Council Resolutions and the supremacy of the UN Charter.”
FO spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said India, at the meeting of NSAs of SCO member states, “tried to vitiate the atmosphere by objecting to Pakistan’s official map”.
Chaudhri said Pakistan is committed to SCO as a platform for regional cooperation.
“We are actively playing a positive and constructive role and following the SCO charter to not let our bilateral relations with any country impact our engagement with SCO.”
