PAKISTAN called Tuesday for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, saying India’s decision to strip its part of disputed Kashmir of autonomy poses “an imminent threat” to international peace and could lead to ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Muslim-majority region.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi denounced “recent aggressive actions” by India’s government, saying they “willfully undermine the internationally recognized disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Quereshi accused India in a letter to the council of implementing a “racist ideology” aimed at turning its part of Kashmir from a Muslim-majority into a Hindu-majority territory.

“The Indian actions Aug. 5, 2019 have opened the way for realization of this fascist policy objective,” he wrote.

Quereshi warned that any such attempt “will evoke strong Kashmiri resistance” and “the anticipated massive repression by India’s occupation forces will lead to ethnic cleansing and genocide.”

He said the Security Council has “the obligation to prevent the recurrence of another Srebrenica and Rwanda,” referring to the genocides in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in 1995 and in Rwanda in 1994.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, whose country holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, said members would discuss the letter.

“Poland believes that this can only be resolved by peaceful means and ... we are in favor of dialogue between Pakistan and India to sort out the differences,” he said. “Strained relations between India and Pakistan negatively affect the whole South Asia region and may lead to serious political, security and economic consequences.”

India and Pakistan, which both now have nuclear weapons, claim all of Kashmir and have fought several wars over the divided region.

With the end of British colonial rule in 1947, the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan. The countries fought their first war over control of Kashmir, which had been a Muslim-majority kingdom ruled by a Hindu maharaja. The war ended in 1948 with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that left Kashmir divided, with the promise of a U.N.-sponsored referendum on its “final disposition” that has never been held.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. Pakistan denies the charge and says it offers only diplomatic and moral support to the rebels. (SD-Agencies)