Sushma Swaraj slams Pakistan at UNGA
Sushma Swaraj took a dig at Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi, says Pakistan has offered nothing to the world and to its own people apart from terrorism
New Delhi: In a scathing attack on Pakistan, India said Pakistani politicians are masters at “forgetting" facts and reminded them that while India produced scholars, doctors, engineers after independence Pakistan has produced terrorists and terrorist camps.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who spoke at the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly at New York, took a dig at Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi who in his speech on Thursday had accused India of terrorism and violating human rights.
“Those listening (to him) had only one observation - Look who’s talking! A country that has been the world’s greatest exporter of havoc, death and inhumanity became a champion of hypocrisy by preaching about humanity and human rights from this podium," said Swaraj in her speech in Hindi.
Swaraj said that though India and Pakistan became free within a day of each other, “Why is it that today India is a recognised IT superpower in the world and Pakistan is recognised only as the pre-eminent export factory for terror?"
Pointing out that India has been a sustained democracy during the 70 years after independence with every government doing its bit for development, she said, “We have marched ahead consistently without pause creating IIMs, IITs, AIIMS and in the fields of education, health, space and across the range of human welfare" and “established scientific and technical institutions which are the pride of the world".
“But what has Pakistan offered to the world and indeed to its own people apart from terrorism? We produced scholars, doctors, engineers. They have produced terrorists and terrorist camps. Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, Haqqani Network. What did you make Pakistan? You created terrorists and Jihadis. Your terrorist organisations are not only attacking India but are also affecting our two neighbours, Afghanistan and Bangladesh," said Swaraj.
The external affairs minister also reminded Pakistan that under the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, India and Pakistan resolved to settle all outstanding issues bilaterally.
“The reality is that Pakistan’s politicians remember everything, manipulate memory into a convenience. They are masters at ‘forgetting’ facts that destroy their version," she added. “If Pakistan had spent on its development what it has spent on developing terror, both Pakistan and the world would be safer and better-off today," she said.
She urged the world to move beyond lip service against terrorism and said, “We must all introspect and ask ourselves whether our talk is anywhere close to the action we take."
“We all in bilateral and multilateral discussions condemn this evil, and piously resolve to fight it in all our declaratory statements. The truth is that these have become rituals. The fact is that when we are required to fight and destroy this enemy, the self-interest of some leads them towards duplicity," she added.
Reminding the general assembly that the United Nations has not been able to agree upon a definition of terrorism, she said, “if we continue to differentiate between good terrorists and bad terrorists, how can we fight together?"
“If even the United Nations Security Council cannot agree on the listing of terrorists, how can we fight together?" she asked.
The foreign affairs minister urged the world to show its commitment by reaching agreement on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism this year. India proposed the pact in 1996.
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