India came out swinging against Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday (local time) as it strongly condemned Pakistan in a 'right to reply' statement after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raked up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. India said it was hypocritic of Pakistan, which has 'a global reputation for terrorism' to lecture India which is the largest democracy in the world.
The First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, Bhavika Mangalanandan, slammed Pakistan as she told the assembly that Pakistan has in past used "terrorism to disrupt elections in Jammu and Kashmir".
"The truth is that Pakistan covets our territory and has continuously used terrorism to disrupt elections in Jammu and Kashmir, an inalienable and integral part of India. A reference has been made to some proposals of strategic restraint," she said.
"This assembly regrettably witnessed a travesty this morning. A country run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics, trade, and transnational crime has had the audacity to attack the world's largest democracy. I speak about the reference to India in the speech of the Pakistani PM," Mangalanandan said.
During her statement, the first secretary mentioned 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and 2001 terror attack on Indian parliament
"Pakistan has long employed cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbours," Mangalanandan stated.
"It has attacked our parliament, our financial capital Mumbai, marketplaces, and pilgrimage routes. The list is long," she said.
"For such a country to speak about violence anywhere is hypocrisy at its worst. It is even more extraordinary for a country with a history of rigged elections to talk about political choices that too, in a democracy," said the Indian diplomat.
1971 genocide
India mentioned the Bangladesh genocide Pakistani forces committed in 1971 in what was then East Pakistan.
"It is ridiculous that a nation that committed genocide in 1971 and which persecuted its minorities relentlessly even now, dare speak about intolerances and phobias....The world can see for itself what Pakistan really is. We are talking about a nation that for long hosted Osama bin Laden."
What Pakistan said earlier
Pakistan has been raking up Jammu and Kashmir issue on various global forums while simultaneously supporting terrorism in the state which is now a union territory.
In the ongoing UNGA session, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded that India should reverse abrogation of Article 370.
"Instead of moving towards peace, India has resiled from its commitments to implement the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. These resolutions mandate the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination. Since 5th August 2019, India has initiated unilateral illegal steps to impose what its leaders honestly call a final solution for Jammu and Kashmir," Shehbaz Sharif claimed.
