Pakistan seeks urgent UN meeting on India action in Kashmir

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Pakistan is calling for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, saying India's decision to strip Kashmir of its autonomy threatens international peace and could lead to ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Muslim-majority region.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi denounced "recent aggressive actions" by India's Hindu nationalist-led government, saying they "willfully undermine the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir."

In a letter to the council Tuesday obtained by The Associated Press, Quereshi also accused India of implementing a "racist ideology" aimed at turning Kashmir from a Muslim-majority into a Hindu-majority territory.

Poland holds the council presidency this month and Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said members would discuss the letter.

He said "strained relations between India and Pakistan negatively affect the whole South Asia region."