India Called Pakistan the 'World's Terrorism Factory' at U.N. Human Rights Council

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A Pakistani soldier keeps guard at the Friendship Gate, crossing point at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan, March 7, 2017. Saeed Ali Achakzai/Reuters

In the latest escalation between the South Asian rivals, India's delegate accused neighboring Pakistan of sponsoring acts of terror and abusing minorities in a speech Wednesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Indian diplomat Nabanita Chakrabarti blasted Pakistan for adopting what she called a "selective approach in tackling terror groups operating outside Pakistan and within." A number of Pakistan-based militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba have conducted deadly attacks on Indian civilians over the years and New Delhi has previously blamed Islamabad for either neglecting or supporting cross-border jihadist activity. Chakrabita responded to Pakistan's earlier charges that India did not adequately care for its minorities by claiming Pakistan was not only becoming the largest producer of terrorism in the world, but also a major oppressor of religious minority rights.

"Apart from becoming world's terrorism factory, Pakistan has also alienated its own people through continued mistreatment of Hindus, Christians, Shias, Ahmadiyas and other minorities," Chakrabarti said at the UNHRC's 34th council, according to Asian News International.

India at UN #hrc34
Apart from becoming world’s terrorism factory, Pakistan has also alienated its own people through continued mistreatment pic.twitter.com/xEs7xo1wUk

— India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) March 15, 2017

Chakrabarti called terrorism the "grossest violation of human rights" and accused Pakistan of destabilizing the disputed border territories of Jammu and Kashmir, which she argued were part of India's sovereign territory, according to The Times of India. The region was rocked by violence last year when Indian security forces shot dead influential separatist leader Burhan Muzaffar Wani, causing anti-India demonstrations in the majority-Muslim area and the deaths of up to 90 people in the ensuing unrest.

India and Pakistan have fought three major wars since the latter declared its independence in 1947. Both countries have been estimated to possess over hundred nuclear warheads each. India's foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar previously demanded Pakistan "shut down the terrorism factory" last month. Pakistan has denied accusations that it supports militant groups within or outside of its borders.

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