(Reopens FGN2)

Pakistan’s representative, exercising the Right of Replyto India’s response, said the Indian government has chosen to"criticise" Sharif’s statement, which "reflects the sentimentsand aspirations of the oppressed people" of Jammu and Kashmir. "The dispute of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be wished away,"he said, adding Pakistan will continue to stand by the peopleof Kashmir and extend its "full diplomatic and politicalsupport" to their movement for freedom from "Indianoppression". Again referring to the "cold-blooded murder" of militantWani, he said it sparked protests across Kashmir in an"irrefutable evidence" of the Kashmiri people’s rejection of"Indian occupation". He said the right to self determination has been"promised" to the people of Kashmir by the internationalcommunity through a series of Security Council resolutions. "Although this promise has yet to be realised sevendecades later, time has not weakened their resolve," he said,adding that the people of Kashmir look towards theinternational community, particularly the members of the UNSC,to deliver on the pledge to hold free and impartial plebisciteto enable them to decide their future. "This is the democratic and legal right of the Kashmiripeople," he said, adding that "no amount of verbiage" used byIndian delegation can "obfuscate" this reality. PTI YASSAI