New York: India on Friday gave a befitting reply to Pakistan in the United Nations General Assembly, saying Islamabad's 'fingerprints' are on terrorist incidents across the world and the country should realise that it has long employed cross-border terrorism against its neighbours that will "inevitably invite consequences".
While exercising its Right of Reply, First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Bhavika Mangalanandan responded to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's speech in the 79th Session of the General Assembly where he raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. "This Assembly regrettably witnessed a travesty this morning. A country, run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics trade and transnational crime has had the audacity to attack the world’s largest democracy," Mangalanandan said in her opening remarks.
"As the world knows, Pakistan has long employed cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbours. It has attacked our Parliament, our financial capital Mumbai, market places and pilgrimage routes. The list is long. For such a country to speak about violence anywhere is hypocrisy at its worst. It is even more extraordinary for a country with a history of rigged elections to talk about political choices, that too in a democracy," the First Secretary said further.
Mangalanandan asserted that Pakistan should realise that cross-border terrorism against India will inevitably invite consequences. "It is ridiculous that a nation that committed genocide in 1971 and which persecutes its minorities relentlessly even now dare speak about intolerance and phobias... We are talking about a nation that for long hosted Osama Bin Laden. A country whose fingerprints are on so many terrorist incidents across the world," she added, reiterating that J-K is an integral part of India.
What did Shehbaz Sharif say about Kashmir?
Every year, Pakistan’s leaders, on expected lines, make references to Jammu and Kashmir in their UNGA speeches and India fields its young diplomats to deliver hard-hitting retorts to Islamabad’s rants. Shehbaz Sharif's speech at the UN was no different, as he accused India of “massive expansion of its military capabilities".
Shehbaz demanded that New Delhi should reverse the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status, and also charged India with trying to subjugate its Muslim population and obliterate its Islamic heritage. He claimed that instead of moving towards peace, India had moved away from its commitments to implement the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir..
"These resolutions mandate a plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination,” he said. "Even more worryingly, it (India) is engaged in a massive expansion of its military capabilities which are essentially deployed against Pakistan." He also pledged to respond decisively to any "Indian aggression".
“Today, we are facing the most daunting challenges to the world order,” he further said, mentioning “Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, a dangerous conflict in Ukraine, destructive conflicts across Africa and Asia, rising geopolitical tensions, resurging terrorism, galloping poverty, stifling debt and the mounting impact of climate change”.
It is worth mentioning Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament suspended Article 370 on August 5, 2019, a decision that Islamabad believed undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours. India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.
(with agency input)
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