A day after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's anti-India rhetoric at the UNGA, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today launched a scathing attack against Islamabad while addressing the UNGA's 79th session. Jaishankar asked Pakistan to vacate Occupied Kashmir and shun terrorism to improve relations with India.
"Many countries get left behind due to circumstances beyond their control but some make conscious choices with disastrous consequences. A premier example is our neighbour Pakistan. Unfortunately, their misdeeds affect others as well, especially the neighbourhood. 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. A dysfunctional nation coveting the lands of others must be exposed and must be countered," said Jaishankar.
Hitting out at Pakistani PM Sharif over his anti-India remarks, Jaishankar said, "We heard some bizarre assertions from this very forum yesterday. Let me make India's position very clear - Pakistan's policy of cross-border terrorism 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 only the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan and of course, abandonment of Pakistan long long-standing attachment to terrorism."
Jaishankar emphasised that Pakistan's radicalization and terrorism have not only affected others but are now consuming its own society, describing this as "karma." He called for the exposure and countering of a "dysfunctional nation" that covets the lands of others.
Reacting to the ongoing wars, he said, "The world is yet to recover from the ravages of covid pandemic. A war in Ukraine is well into its third year and the conflict in Gaza is acquiring wider ramifications."
(With ANI Inputs)
