Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan warned the UN on Friday that his country’s dispute with India over Kashmir could escalate into an all-out nuclear war that would have consequences for the world.
Khan’s speech was in contrast to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message from the same podium a few minutes earlier in which he said India is a country that has “given the world, not war but Buddha’s message of peace”, the Hindu reported.
“If a conventional war starts between the two countries, anything could happen. But supposing a country seven times smaller than its neighbour is faced with the choice – either you surrender or you fight for your freedom until death,” Khan said.
“What will we do? I ask myself these questions. We will fight . . . and when a nuclear-armed country fights to the end, it will have consequences far beyond the borders,” warned Khan.
Using the Right to Reply, India’s First Secretary at the Permanent Mission to the UN, Vidisha Maitra, said Pakistan is a country that provides shelter to 130 UN-designated terrorists and 25 terror entities.
“Can the Prime Minister of Pakistan deny that he has been a supporter of Osama bin Laden [the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks],” Maitra asked.
India said that even though Pakistan has “monopolised the entire value chain of the industry of terrorism”, Khan’s justification of terrorism was “brazen and incendiary”.
Starting her speech, Maitra said Khan’s speech was a “callous portrayal of the world in binary terms”.
She said Khan’s speech was a script that “fosters divisiveness” at the UN and is an “attempt to sharpen differences and stir up hatred”.
“Simply put, it is hate speech.”
India said in his speech, Pakistan’s Khan had attempted to portray a world of “us vs them; rich vs poor; north vs south; developed vs developing; Muslims vs others”.
“Threat of unleashing nuclear devastation qualifies as brinksmanship, not statesmanship.”
Hitting out at Pakistan Khan’s speech, India said: “Rarely has the UN General Assembly witnessed such misuse, rather abuse, of an opportunity to reflect.
India said when it comes to diplomacy, words matter. “Invocation of phrases such as ‘pogrom’, ‘bloodbath’, ‘racial superiority’, ‘pick up the gun’ and ‘fight to the end’ reflect a medieval mindset and not a 21st-century vision”.
Taking a dig at Khan, India said for someone who was once a cricketer and believed in the gentleman’s game, his speech at the UNGA “bordered on crudeness of the variety that is reminiscent of the guns of Darra Adam Khel”.
“Now that Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited UN Observers to Pakistan to verify that there are no militant organisations in Pakistan, the world will hold him to that promise.”
India said, before this proposed inspection, Pakistan could confirm if it is not a fact that it provides a home to 130 UN-designated terrorists and 25 terror entities listed by the UN.
Continuing with the Right to Reply speech, India said Pakistan is country that has “mainstreamed terrorism and hate speech”. But today, it is “trying to play its wild card as the newfound champion of human rights”.
India also raised the issue of persecution of minorities in Pakistan. “This a country that has shrunk the size of its minority community from 23 per cent in 1947 to three per cent today and has subjected Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyas, Hindus, Shias, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Balochis to draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution, blatant abuse and forced conversions,” India said.
Reminding Pakistan of its track record of gross human rights violation, India said Khan should refresh his “sketchy understanding” of history.
“Do not forget the gruesome genocide perpetrated by Pakistan against its own people in 1971 and the role played by Lt. Gen AAK Niazi, a sordid fact that the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh reminded this Assembly about earlier this afternoon.”
Speaking about Pakistan’s repeated objection on India’s decision to make Article 370 inapplicable in Jammu and Kashmir, India said: “Pakistan’s virulent reaction to the removal of an outdated and temporary provision [Article 370] that was hindering development and integration of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir stems from the fact that those who thrive on conflict never welcome the ray of peace.”
INDIA TODAY