India's 'hegemonic' steps blighted security environment: Pakistan

Geneva, Oct 11: Needling India, Pakistan has told the UN that South Asia's security environment was "blighted" by India's insistence on "hegemonic policies", as it asserted that regional peace was not possible without resolution of underlying disputes, especially Kashmir.

The pursuit of "hegemonic policies" in South Asia by India and its efforts for "military domination" are creating instability both at the global and regional levels, Tehmina Janjua, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and the Conference on Disarmament told UN' International Security Committee.

"Alluding to its recent aggression and the display of irresponsible behaviour by India, Ambassador Janjua highlighted that South Asia's security environment was blighted by India's insistence on hegemonic policies, engaging in a relentless arms build-up, and a myopic refusal to engage in any meaningful dialogue on security issues," a Pakistan Foreign Office statement said today about Janjua's briefing to the committee.

Pakistan's security was fundamentally challenged by the introduction of nuclear weapons in its neighbourhood, the statement said.

Janjua, while breifing the 192-member UN Committee that addresses disarmament and international security matters, referred to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the UN General Assembly last month in which he underscored Pakistan's resolve to maintain strategic stability in South Asia.

"The committee was reminded of Pakistan's proposal of our readiness to agree on a bilateral arrangement between Pakistan and India on a nuclear test ban that awaited a response from Indian side," the Foreign Office statement said.

Ambassador Janjua said "peace and stability in South Asia would not be possible without resolving underlying disputes especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute; agreeing on measures for nuclear and missile restraint, and instituting conventional forces balance," according to the statement.

Pakistan's proposal for a strategic restraint regime, based on these three inter-locking elements, remained on the table, the statement said.

PTI