UNITED NATIONS: India has issued a stark warning to countries against ignoring what it describes as Pakistan’s support for terrorism.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar delivered the statement at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, following Pakistan’s own appeal for talks the previous day.
Jaishankar called for “much deeper global cooperation” against terrorism during his address.
“India has confronted this challenge since independence, having a neighbor that is an epicenter of global terrorism,“ Jaishankar stated, without explicitly naming Pakistan.
“For decades now, major international terrorist attacks are traced back to that one country,“ he added.
“Those who condone nations that sponsor terror will find that it comes back to bite them,“ he further remarked, also without specifying any countries.
India conducted military strikes inside Pakistan in May after suspected Islamist gunmen killed tourists, predominantly Hindus, in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Jaishankar asserted that India “exercised its right to defend its people against terrorism.”
Pakistan has consistently denied responsibility for the Kashmir attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the UN on Friday that India showed “arrogance” and received a “bloody nose” with counterattacks.
Sharif met with US President Donald Trump in Washington before the UN summit, alongside Pakistan’s military chief.
Trump has expressed interest in mediating between India and Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has downplayed Trump’s role in securing a May ceasefire.
Modi maintains New Delhi’s longstanding refusal of external mediation on Kashmir.
Pakistan has praised Trump extensively and suggested he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
This has revitalised Islamabad’s relationship with Washington, which had grown strained during the Afghanistan war.
Trump has increased tariffs on India, citing its oil purchases from sanctioned Russia.
Jaishankar noted in his speech that India must address “overdependence on a particular market.”
“We now see tariff volatility and uncertain market access,“ he observed.
“As a result, de-risking is a growing compulsion,“ Jaishankar concluded. – AFP