India Hits Back at Pak PM over Anti-India tirade at UN

• Pakistan once again launched an anti-India tirade and raked up the Kashmir issue at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday (September 23) even and levelled unsubstantiated charges while claiming that it wants peace with all its neighbours.
• Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif began his address on the fourth day of the 77th session of UNGA by referring to the unprecedented floods in Pakistan and their disastrous impact on the residents.
• However, he soon switched to mentioning the much-anticipi topic-Kashmir. Sharif said, “Sustainable peace and stability in South Asia, however, remains contingent upon a just and lasting solution to J&K dispute.”
• Sharif, who has been seeking aid from all countries for flood relief besides monetary assistance from IMF and other nations for its economy which is in dire straits, further alleged, “At the heart of this longstanding dispute lies the denial of the inalienable right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination.”

Want Peace –

• Sharif added that only peaceful dialogue can resolve issues so that the world becomes more peaceful in the time to come. He said Pakistan wants peace with all its neighbours, including India.

To know what Pakistanis think about Kashmir, click here.

Military Deployment in J&K –

• Sharif alleged that New Delhi has ramped up its military deployment in Jammu and Kashmir to 900,000 troops, But did not deny India’s allegations of constant cross-border infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan territory. India has deployed forces in the border areas to counter the influx of terrorists from the Pakistan side.

Non-Kashmiri issues –

• Without providing any substantive evidence, Sharif said that millions of fake domicile eertificates have been issued to non-Kashmiris. He further made fake claims that Kashmiri land and properties are being seized.

On Islamophobia –

• In a segment on growing Islamophobia around the world, Mr. Sharif pointed to India. “The officially sponsored campaign of oppression against India’s over 200 million Muslims is the worst manifestation of Islamophobia,” he said, adding, “They are subjected to discriminatory laws and policies, hijab bans, attacks on mosques and lynchings by Hindu mobs. I’m particularly concerned by the calls for genocide against India’s Muslims by some extremists.”

Possibility of War –

• In spite of having to deal with a severe economic crisis and massive devastation caused by floods back home, Sharif spoke of the possibility of war and said that India must understand that “both countries are armed to the teeth and war is not an option”.
• Pakistan needs a stable external environment. We look for peace with all our neighbours, including India. I think it’s high time that India understood this message loud and clear that both countries are armed to the teeth War is not an option. It is not an option. Only peaceful dialogue can resolve these issues so that the world becomes more peaceful in time to come,” he said.

India’s Response:

• India on Saturday called out Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif for ‘making false accusations against India’ during his address at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
• In a stern message, the first secretary of the Indian Mission to the UN, Mijito Vinito, slammed Pakistan for sheltering terrorists behind the horrific 26/11 Mumbai attack and accused it of sponsoring cross-border terrorism.
• “It is regrettable that the Pakistan PM chose the platform of this assembly to make false accusations against India. He has done so to obfuscate misdeeds in his own country, and to justify actions against India,” Mijito Vinito said, exercising India’s right of reply.

On the matter of peace –

• On Sharif’s statement -“We look for peace with all our neighbours”; India replied, “A polity that claims it seeks peace with its neighbours would never sponsor cross-border terrorism, nor shelter planners of horrific Mumbai terrorist attack…disclosing their existence only after pressure from the international community.
• “The desire for peace, security and progress in the Indian subcontinent will surely happen when cross-border terrorism ceases, When governments come clean with the international community and their own people, When minorities are not persecuted and, not least, when we recognize these realities before this Assembly,” he said in his closing statement.