Globally Recognised Epicentre of Terrorism: India launches multi-pronged attack on Pakistan at UN platforms

Foreign Affairs

New Delhi: Adopting a tough stance, India, on September 21, launched a multi-pronged attack on Pakistan at various United Nations bodies and underlined how it systematically breeds and uses terror infrastructure from its land. Slamming that country’s tainted human rights record, Senthil Kumar, first secretary, Permanent Mission of India in Geneva told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that Pakistan has been driving a ‘disinformation’ filled political propaganda about India’s internal matters.

“Yet again, though we are not surprised, Pakistan has twice chosen to divert the attention of the Council with its imposturous political propaganda full of disinformation and gratuitous references about India’s internal matters today,” Kumar said at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council. He told the assembly about various instances of violence against journalists, human rights activists and minorities in that country.

At the United Nations in New York, Vidisha Maitra, first secretary in Permanent Mission of India in UN said that Pakistan is a country which is ‘globally recognised epicentre of terrorism’, and which, by its own admission ‘harbours and trains terrorists and hails them as martyrs and consistently persecutes its ethnic and religious minorities’.

“We reject the malicious reference made to Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. If there is an item that is unfinished on the agenda of the UN, it is that of tackling the scourge of terrorism… What we heard today is the never-ending fabricated narrative presented by Pakistani representative about internal affairs of India,” Maitra said. Her response came after Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi raked up the Kashmir issue at the UN.

In yet another development, the Indian World Forum (IWF) has sought UNSC intervention against atrocities inflicted upon minorities in Pakistan. A Delhi-based organisation, IWF has urged the UNSC to investigate the ‘heinous crimes’ committed by Pakistan against its minorities.

“The minorities living in Pakistan are victims of heinous crimes which is threatening international peace. Atrocities ranging from abduction to forceful conversion into Islam of young girls is a matter of great concern and decrease in demographics of minorities portray lack of compliance of Pakistan to UN Charter,” IWF wrote.