JavaScript is not available.

Click here to read in Malayalam

India has used its Right to Reply at the UN General Assembly to respond to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who raked up the issue of Kashmir in his address.

"While such statements deserve our collective contempt and sympathy for the mindset of the person who utters falsehood repeatedly, I am taking the floor to set the record straight,” First Secretary Sneha Dubey said in the UN General Assembly, slamming the Pakistani leader for raking up the Kashmir issue in his address to the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

Watch: India exercises its right of reply at the #UNGA @AmbTSTirumurti @MEAIndia @harshvshringla pic.twitter.com/YGcs28fYYa

India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) September 25, 2021

"Arsonist disguised as a firefighter"

Will Pakistani representatives understand such a level of English...#SnehaDubey Young Energetic...#UNGA #ModiInUSA pic.twitter.com/elVZv5WoAi

Dr. Vishal Garg (@DrVishalGarg3) September 25, 2021

   "We keep hearing that Pakistan is a 'victim of terrorism. This is the country which is an arsonist disguising itself as a firefighter. Pakistan nurtures terrorists in their backyard in the hope that they will only harm their neighbours. Our region, and in fact the entire world, has suffered because of their policies. On the other hand, they are trying to cover up sectarian violence in their country as acts of terror," Dubey said.

Dubey strongly reiterated that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh "were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. This includes the areas that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation.”


Pakistan misusing the platform
Dubey said it is regrettable that this is not the first time the leader of Pakistan has "misused" platforms provided by the UN to "propagate false and malicious propaganda against my country, and seeking in vain to divert the world's attention from the sad state of his country where terrorists enjoy free pass while the lives of ordinary people, especially those belonging to the minority communities, are turned upside down."

With the international community marking this month the solemn occasion of the 20th anniversary of the “dastardly” 9/11 terror attacks, Dubey said the world has not forgotten that the "mastermind behind that dastardly event, Osama Bin Laden, got shelter in Pakistan. Even today, Pakistan leadership glorifies him as a 'martyr'."

"Regrettably, even today we heard the leader of Pakistan trying to justify acts of terror. Such defence of terrorism is unacceptable in the modern world."

Categorically emphasising India's position, Dubey said New Delhi desires normal relations "with all our neighbours, including Pakistan." However, it is for Islamabad to work sincerely towards creating a conducive atmosphere, including by taking credible, verifiable and irreversible actions to not allow any territory under its control to be used for cross border terrorism against India in any manner.

What Imran Khan said
Earlier, PM Khan had said that Pakistan desires "peace" with India, as with all its neighbours. "But sustainable peace in South Asia is contingent upon resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir" issue, in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and the wishes of the Kashmiri people, he said.

He also called on the UN General Assembly to "demand" that separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's mortal remains be allowed to be buried in the "cemetery of martyrs" with the appropriate Islamic rites.

He also repeated Pakistan's claim that it was one of the biggest victims of the war on terror.

"From this platform, I want them all to know, the country that suffered the most, apart from Afghanistan, was Pakistan, when we joined the US War on Terror after 9/11," he said.