TEHRAN, Jan 31 - India summoned Pakistan's envoy in protest against a telephone call made by Pakistan's foreign minister to a separatist leader in Indian Kashmir and said there would be consequences if there was more such contact.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The row is the latest to erupt between the nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed territory of Kashmir at the heart of seven decades of hostility. India has refused any talks with its neighbor saying it must first stop supporting militants fighting its rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale called Pakistan's ambassador, Sohail Mahmood, on Wednesday to denounce Pakistan for trying to subvert the country's integrity, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.
It said the call by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a leader of the separatist umbrella All Parties Hurriyat Conference, based in Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir, was deplorable.
"The Pakistan Foreign Minister’s actions are tantamount to direct interference in the internal affairs of its neighbor," the foreign ministry said.
Pakistan denies giving any material help the militants but says it is committed to giving the Kashmiri people moral and diplomatic support in their struggle for self-determination.
It rejected the Indian objections and said that the leadership in Pakistan had always been in touch with Kashmiri leaders and there was nothing new in the phone call.
Source: Reuters
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