United Nations, Feb 19 : India has denounced Pakistan as 'a global epicentre of terrorism' and called it an irony that Islamabad claims to be at the forefront of fighting terror.

'Pakistan is a global epicentre of terrorism, harbouring more than 20 UN-listed terrorist entities and providing state support to cross-border terrorism,' India's Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish said on Tuesday at the Security Council.

'Hence it is a supreme irony when Pakistan pats itself on the back as being at the forefront of the fight against terrorism,' he said.

'India,' he added, 'has been a victim of acts of terror perpetrated by this country through terror groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat ul Mujahidin (HuM), among dozens of others.'

Responding to Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar raising Kashmir, Harish said, 'In fact, it is Pakistan that is in illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir.'

He pointed out that the people of Jammu and Kashmir region again in last year's election made their adherence to India clear.

'The people of Jammu and Kashmir have only last year taken part in a successful election and have voted in large numbers to choose their government,' he said.

'The choice of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was loud and clear,' he said. 'Democracy in Jammu and Kashmir is vibrant and strong unlike in Pakistan,' he said.

He added, 'Pakistan's campaigns of misinformation and disinformation, of lies and falsehoods, do not change facts on the ground.'

"As is Pakistan's practice of bringing up Kashmir during any meeting at the UN without any relevance, this time it was during a Council session on multilateralism and reforming global governance. Dar claimed that the people of Pakistan had been denied their right to self-determination and the Security Council has a responsibility to ensure that its resolutions are implemented. But the Security Council resolution he was alluding to, No. 47 adopted on April 21, 1948, requires the Pakistani government to withdraw 'tribesmen' and Pakistani nationals who entered Jammu and Kashmir and 'to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State".

Dar said that Pakistan 'has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism' and listed several terrorist groups -- Daesh, Al-Qaeda, TTP, ETIM, IMU, and emerging right-wing extremist groups -- that 'must be opposed with equal determination'. Left out of the list was the JeM, which attacked India's Parliament in 2001; the HuM, which hijacked an Indian aeroplane, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried out a terror campaign against Mumbai in 2008, killing about 170 people.

/IANS