India on Wednesday put up a strong reply to the statements made by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in which he said that India was setting "unacceptable pre-conditions" for dialogues on Kashmir, and also glorified Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani at the world stage.
Eenam Gambhir, the first secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, in her speech at the UNGA, minced no words in blaming Pakistan for the terrorism that is prevalent in the region. She said: "What my country and our other neighbours are facing today is Pakistan's long-standing policy of sponsoring terrorism, the consequences of which have spread well beyond our region."
She also recalled an ancient seat of learning to draw parallels with the terror machinery present in Pakistan. "The land of Taxila, one of the greatest learning centres of ancient times, is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism. It attracts aspirants and apprentices from all over the world. The effects of its toxic curriculum are felt across the globe," she said.
Also read: The full text of India's reply to Pakistan at the UNGA.
"It is ironical therefore that we have seen today the preaching of human rights and ostensible support for self-determination by a country which has established itself as the global epicentre of terrorism," she said, in response to Sharif's speech, in which he had talked of human rights violations in Kashmir.
Gambhir continued her attack with blunt truths: "Shortly before Pakistan gave its hypocritical sermons in this august house today, its envoy in New Delhi was summoned in the context of the most recent of the terror attacks in Uri that claimed 18 Indian lives. That terrorist attack is part of a trail of continuous flow of terrorists trained and armed by our neighbour and tasked to carry out terrorist attacks in my country."
She added: "Even today we have heard support by the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a self-acknowledged commander of a known terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen." Earlier, Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar had said of Sharif's mention of Wani: "Burhan Wani is a self-declared commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen. We heard today by the Pakistani prime minister the glorification of terror. It was self-incrimination."
