Shashi Tharoor on EAM's speech at UNGA
Disappointed over Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Congress leader Shashi Tharoor feels everything in the speech was aimed at the BJP voters. Tharoor further claimed the speech did not construct a positive image of the country.
Commenting on the speech of EAM Sushma Swaraj, the Congress leader said everything in the speech is about the political environment of the country.
“We get the sense that everything is about the political environment in India,” Tharoor said.
“This was a speech aimed at BJP voters and sending out a message to them particularly on the subject of Pakistan, rather than constructing a positive and constructive image of the India in the world,” he added.
"One can fully appreciate and welcome some of the things that Sushma ji said, but some other things were actually disappointing," Tharoor said.
The external affairs minister had lashed out at Pakistan for "masking malevolence with duplicity" and "harbouring terrorists".
Rejecting Pakistan’s charge of India shying away from talks, Swaraj clarified it was impossible to hold dialogue with a nation which allows a proclaimed terrorist like Hafiz Saeed to roam freely.
"We have not sabotaged negotiations with Pakistan. We began talks with them because we believed it necessary. They were stalled only because of Pakistan's own behaviour," she said.
She further emphasised that India wants peace and their request for talks was accepted after the Imran Khan-government had come to power in Pakistan.
"But within hours, they killed three of our policemen in Kashmir," she added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan had dismissed her charges as "baseless" and further accused India of choosing politics over peace.
