Kashmir Integral Part of India and Will Always Remain So, Sushma Tells UN

Kashmir integral part of India and will always remain so, Sushma tells UN

Links Pak To Terror Attacks Worldwide

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday bluntly told the United Nations General Assembly , “...Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.“ The UN Security Council's resolutions on Kashmir have been repeatedly cited by Pakistan to assert its locus standi in the issue.

Maintaining diplomatic pressure on Islamabad following the Uri attack, Swaraj called out Pakistan for nurtu ring terrorists responsible for attacks worldwide. She linked Pakistan's assaults in Kashmir with the latest bombing in New York, whose perpetrator is reported to have “'studied“ at a Pakistani madrassa.

“In our midst, there are nations that still speak the language of terrorism, that nurtu re it, peddle it, and export it.To shelter terrorists has become their calling card. We must identify these nations and hold them to account,“ Swaraj said, after referring to Pakistan-inspired attacks only a few minutes from the UN he adquarters in New York.

“These nations, in which UN-designated terrorists roam freely , lead processions and deliver their poisonous sermons of hate with impunity , are as culpable as the very terrorists they harbour. Such countries should have no place in the comity of nations,“ she said, in a reminder that Pakistan continued to coddle Lashkar-e-Taiba head Hafiz Saeed.

Swaraj's attack came even as General John Nicholson, the US commander in Afghanistan, agreed with defense secretary Ash Carter's decision to withhold $300 million in military support for Pakistan this year, after not being able to certify that it was adequately fighting terrorism. “It was his way of saying that there's not adequate pressure being put on the Haqqanis and I concur with the secretary's assessment on that,“ he said. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj covered Pakistani terrorist depredations from New York to Uri, as she cited the “blood and tears of innocent victims“ of attacks in Kabul and Dhaka, Istanbul and Mogadishu, Brussels and Bangkok, and Paris and Pathankot.

Calling terrorism the “biggest violation of human rights... a crime against humanity“, Swaraj challenged the Pakistani narrative on Kashmir that centres on alleged Indian oppression.“Those accusing others of human rights violations would do well to introspect and see what egregious abuses they are perpetrating in their own country. The brutality against the Baloch people represents the worst form of state oppression,“ she said.

It is possibly the first time India is raising the Baloch issue at the UN forum, representing a sharp escalation in the battle to shape perceptions on human rights violations. In fact, in an implicit counter to Pakistan's allegations that it had apprehended an Indian agent fomenting violence in Pakistan, Swaraj named Bahadur Ali, “a terrorist in our custody , whose confession is proof of Pakistan's complicity in cross-border terror“.

“But when confronted with such evidence, Pakistan remains in denial. It persists in the belief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets. My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream,“ she said.

But even amid the attack, Swaraj offered an olive branch to Pakistan, countering its PM Nawaz Sharif 's assertion that New Delhi had imposed preconditions for talks. “What preconditions?“ she asked, reminding Islamabad of several unconditional initiatives and visits by Indian leaders, including PM Modi and herself.

She added: “We need to forget our prejudices and join hands together to script an effective strategy against terror.This is not an impossible task, provided we have the will. Oth erwise our future generations will forever hold us to account.“ Swaraj's counter-attack marked one of the most testy encounters between the two sides at the UN in a year in which they not only forsook any dialogue on its margins, but also ignored protocol niceties. While Pakistani leaders and officials boasted that they had raised the profile of the Kashmir issue in a big way, the effort visibly fell flat, with few countries evincing interest in a matter that is seen as a bilateral issue, with a UN resolution on it being non-binding and infructuous.

World leaders, from Barack Obama to the UN secretary-general, made no mention of the issue, and Pakistan's efforts to suggest it had the support of China, Turkey , and Gulf leaders, were not borne out by statements from them.

On its part, New Delhi, led by MoS for external affairs M J Akbar, and UN envoy Syed Akbaruddin, is pressing forward with its outreach among Gulf and Islamic countries to counter Pakistan's push.

(TOI)