India rejects Turkish President Erdogan's comments on Kashmir

New Delhi: Slamming Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments on Kashmir, India has asked him not to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India rejects all references made by the Turkish President on Jammu and Kashmir, stating that the region is an integral and inalienable part of India.

In an address at Pakistan's Parliament on Friday, Erdogan compared "the struggle of Kashmiri people with that of fight by Turkish people against foreign domination during the World War I".

"India rejects all references to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India," Kumar said in reference to Erdogan's comments on Jammu and Kashmir.

"We call upon the Turkish leadership not to interfere in India's internal affairs and develop a proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region," he said.

Meanwhile, in a firm repartee, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told a senior US Senator that India will "settle" the Kashmir issue on its own when the American lawmaker brought up the issue during an interaction at the Munich Security Conference.

Referring to the Kashmir issue during a panel discussion, Senator Lindsey Graham said the best way to sell democracy will be to settle the Kashmir issue in a democratic way.

"In India, you are moving forward, you got your problems like we do at home, but you've chosen the democratic path. When it comes to Kashmir, I don't know how it ends, but let's make sure that two democracies will end it differently. If you can prove that concept here, then I think that's probably the best way to sell democracy," the Republican leader said.

To this, Jaishankar promptly responded: "Do not worry, Senator. One democracy will settle it and you know which one." During the discussion Jaishankar also said that the United Nations is far less credible than it has been in history and "something" should be done about it.