‘Gross interference in internal affairs’: India slams Turkey President Erdogan’s remarks on Kashmir

India on Tuesday came down heavily on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the latter made uncalled for remarks on Kashmir during his United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech. The Indian Mission at the United Nations said that Erdogan’s speech was an act of “gross interference” in New Delhi’s internal affairs and that it was “completely unacceptable”. After Erdogan raked up the Kashmir issue at the UNGA, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti, took to social media platform Twitter and said that Ankara should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its policies more deeply. “We have seen remarks by President of Turkey on Indian UT of Jammu and Kashmir. They constitute gross interference in India's internal affairs and are completely unacceptable. Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its policies more deeply,” Tirumurti tweeted. The Turkish President, on day two of the high-level UNGA session said, “The Kashmir conflict, which is also key to the stability and peace of South Asia, is still a burning issue.” As per the pre-recorded statement, the controversial leader said that it is important to solve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. “We are in favour of solving this issue through dialogue within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, especially in line with the expectations of the people of Kashmir,” he said. It is not unknown that Pakistan is hand-in-gloves with Turkey, a country that has ruffled feathers with a lot of West Asian countries due to its indiscriminate military interference in Syria and other neighbouring States. In just the past one year, Turkey has used various platforms to raise the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, but India has time and again told the West Asian country that it is an internal affair. Just last week, India slammed Pakistan, Turkey and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council over their comments on India’s internal matters. India had back then advised Turkey to refrain from commenting on the internal matters of New Delhi and develop a better understanding of democratic practices.