India slams Pakistan PM over Kashmir statement at UNGA

Calling Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's remarks over Kashmir “unacceptable”, India slammed his statement at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), describing it as “hypocrisy at its worst."

Addressing the general debate of the 79th session of the UNGA on Sep 27, Sharif once again raked up the Kashmir issue, making references to the abrogation of Article 370 and Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani.

Indian diplomat Bhavika Mangalanandan, in his address, hit back at the Pakistan Prime Minister and said that a country run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics, trade, and transnational crime, has dared to attack the world's largest democracy, adding that Pakistan will seek to counter the truth with more lies.

“This assembly regrettably witnessed a travesty this morning. I speak about the reference to India in the speech of the Pakistani PM. As the world knows, Pakistan has long employed cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbors. It has attacked our parliament, our financial capital, Mumbai, marketplaces, and pilgrimage roots. The list is long,” said Mangalanandan.

“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,” she added.

Mangalanandan went on to say, “The real truth is that Pakistan covets our territory and has continuously used terrorism to disrupt elections in Jammu and Kashmir, an inalienable and integral part of India,”

Issuing a warning to Pakistan, India said the neighboring country should realize that cross-border terrorism against India will “inevitably invite consequences”.

“It is ridiculous that a nation that committed genocide in 1971 and which persecuted its minorities relentlessly even now, dare speak about intolerances and phobias. The world can see what Pakistan is,” Mangalanandan said.

“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, and whose policies attract the dregs of many societies to make it their home,” she added.

“Repetition will change nothing. Our stand is clear and needs no reiteration,” Bhavika Mangalanandan said.

Notably, Pakistan has been continuously raising the Kashmir issue on several UN platforms, even when the country fails to get any support for its statements.

However, India has maintained that Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh are and will always be an integral part of the country.

Earlier, in his speech lasting over 20 minutes, Sharif urged India to reverse the abrogation of Article 370 to “secure durable peace.”
He also asked India to enter into a dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue as per the UN Security resolutions and the “wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”

Pakistan's prime minister compared the situation in Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir saying, “Like the people of Palestine, the people of Jammu and Kashmir too, have struggled for a century for their freedom and right to self-determination.”
Sharif alleged Muslims are being targeted in India and claimed that the escalation of Islamophobia is a troubling global development.

“The most alarming manifestation of Islamophobia is the Hindu supremacist agenda in India. It aggressively seeks the subjugation of over 200 million Muslims and the obliteration of India's Islamic heritage,” he said.