India's claim of surgical strike false: Pakistan to UN chief

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that India's claim of carrying out a surgical strike across the LoC was false and insisted that the responsibility for the "escalating crisis rests entirely on India".

In her meeting with the UN chief, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi told Ban that Pakistan has exercised maximum restraint but would respond forcefully to any acts of aggression and provocation.

Lodhi said India's "claim" of carrying out a surgical strike across the Line of Control was "false" but added that India had by its own admission "committed aggression" against Pakistan, according to a statement by the Pakistan mission here.

She added that the responsibility for the "escalating crisis rests entirely on India", the release said.

Briefing him about the escalating situation, Lodhi said "India has, by its declarations and actions, created conditions that pose an imminent threat to regional and international peace and security."

She said India provoked the crisis to divert international attention away from the "Indigenous Kashmiri uprising" and asked the Secretary General to intervene in bringing an end to the alleged grave human rights in Kashmir.

Lodhi further said the Secretary General is "bound by the UN Charter" to "intervene boldly and unequivocally" by calling on India to halt its "aggressive actions and provocations", lest these lead to an even more dangerous situation.

During a briefing, Ban's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had said that Lodhi's meeting with Ban was held at her own request and added that Ban's office does not give readouts of his meetings with Permanent Representatives.