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Isolate Pakistan, Swaraj tells world; asks Islamabad to stop dreaming about Kashmir

Asks Islamabad to stop dreaming about Kashmir * Says Balochistan witnessing worst form of state oppression

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York on Monday.
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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may have sounded restrained but her words delivered a stinging rebuttal to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had spoken at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week. 

Speaking in chaste Hindi, Swaraj strongly rebutted Sharif’s contention that India has put “unacceptable preconditions before engaging in dialogue”, stating that India had repeatedly held out the hand of friendship to Pakistan, only to be rewarded with terror strikes.

“We conveyed Eid greetings to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, wished success to his cricket team, extended good wishes for his health and well-being. Did all this come with preconditions? And what did we get in return? Pathankot, Bahadur Ali, and Uri,” she said.

After her speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Congrats to EAM @SushmaSwaraj for a firm, effective & fine articulation of a wide range of global issues at #UNGA.”

Apart from rebutting Sharif’s claims, she also chose to focus on human rights violations in Balochistan, a continuation of the Modi government’s policy, ever since the Prime Minister mentioned the 'B' word in his Independence Day speech this year. 

The foreign minister also said that those accusing others of human rights violations would do well to introspect and see what egregious abuses they were perpetrating in their own country. “The brutality against the Baloch people represents the worst form of state oppression,” she said.

Swaraj asked member countries to back the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, proposed by India in 1996, and lamented that despite the passage of two decades, it is still not concluded. 

Unlike Sharif, Swaraj refused to remain unifocal, living up to the global community’s expectations of India being a responsible power. Swaraj spoke on a range of issues from poverty, climate change, reforms at the UN Security Council and other sustainable goals, in which she highlighted India’s achievements.

While India remained a business-friendly country, the government was conscious of its other obligations and responsibilities, she said. Swaraj told world leaders about the Indian government’s Clean India campaign and other endeavours such as Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao, aimed at educating the girl child. 

While Swaraj won much acclaim, back home her own party leader and former minister Yashwant Sinha and Opposition leaders were unimpressed. The Congress called her speech placid and ineffectual. They demanded to know why Swaraj had not called Pakistan a “terrorist state” and why she did not demand military and diplomatic sanctions. Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjiwala said that the Modi government “had made India a laughing stock in the world”.

Another Congress spokesperson, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, asked the government to immediately declare Pakistan a “terrorist state” and convene a one or two-day special session of Parliament to review the security situation and declare Pakistan as a nation exporting and promoting terrorism. 

He also demanded the scaling down of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi as also the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. He asked as to what was the delay in granting asylum to the 33-year old rebel Baloch leader Brahumdagh Bugti.

But not everyone agreed. Officials and the country’s former diplomats praised the foreign minister for delivering a crafty and a balanced speech. “It (the speech) was neither tame nor meek. She mentioned Pakistan’s role in detail. It had to be stated in an understated manner. Sanctions are a technical thing, and if you raise it, it is also a trap. She didn’t fall into that trap,” said veteran diplomat Vivek Katju.

Officials were also pleased that Swaraj had made India’s stance on Kashmir absolutely clear. Swaraj had said: “Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” and warned Islamabad to “abandon this dream” about using terror attacks to “obtain the territory it covets”. Such language sent a strong message to Pakistan and the world that India remained committed to peace in the subcontinent but would no longer tolerate the language of terror. 

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