India has told Pakistan that its policy of cross border terrorism will never succeed; it must have no expectations of impunity and its actions will have consequences; and the only issues on the table are Pakistan’s vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory and abandonment of its policy of terrorism. It has also suggested that what Pakistan is suffering today internally is “karma” for its past approach of instilling radicalism in its own society.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar mounted a sharp counter to Pakistan a day after its Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, compared Kashmir with Palestine, labeled India as engaging in a “settler colonial project”, accused New Delhi of aggressive intent, and spoke of the “Hindu supremacist agenda” in India as being the “most alarming manifestation” of Islamophobia.
In a segment of his speech, that largely focused on the need to respect international law and stand for valued tenets, Jaishankar first spoke of terrorism. “Terrorism is antithetical of everything that the world stands for. All its forms and manifestations must be resolutely opposed. The sanctioning of global terrorists by the United Nations should also not be impeded for political reasons,” he said.
Over the past decade, China has backed Pakistan’s position to block the designation of Pakistan-based terrorists in UN committees.
{{/usCountry}}Over the past decade, China has backed Pakistan’s position to block the designation of Pakistan-based terrorists in UN committees.
{{/usCountry}}The minister then widened the ambit and said that while some countries get left behind due to circumstances, others do so because of the choices they make, an example of which was Pakistan whose actions however had consequences beyond its borders.
“When this polity instils such fanaticism among its people, its GDP can only be measured in terms of radicalisation and its exports in the form of terrorism. Today, we see the ills it sought to visit on others consume its own society. It can’t blame the world; this is only karma,” he said.
He then added that a “dysfunctional nation” that coveted the lands of others had to be exposed and must be countered.
“We heard some bizarre assertions from it at this forum yesterday. So let me make India’s position perfectly clear. Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism policy will never succeed. And it can have no expectation of impunity. On the contrary, actions will certainly have consequences. The issue to be resolved between us is now only the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan. And of course, the abandonment of Pakistan’s longstanding attachment to terrorism,” he said.
In recent years, India has usually left it to a junior diplomat from its permanent mission to the UN to respond to Pakistan’s highest leadership directly, as it did this year as well, while India’s top leadership only alludes to it either indirectly or briefly in its own national statement. But this year marked a change as Jaishankar clearly decided that Sharif’s attack deserved a stronger and higher level response.
Earlier on Friday, India exercised its Right of Reply on Friday and slammed Pakistan, saying its “fingerprints” are on terrorist incidents across the world and the country should realise that cross-border terrorism against India will “inevitably invite consequences”.