Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria asked the Indian minister through a series of tweets that if Kashmir is an  integral part of India, why is it on the agenda of Security Council?”

Zakaria also expressed displeasure over what he termed “disowning of UNSC resolutions” on Kashmir by the Indian Minister.

Pakistan ‘s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi also reacted strongly to the Indian minister’s speech and termed it “a litany of falsehood and baseless allegations”.     Ms Lodhi maintained that Swaraj’s allegations on Pakistan were an attempt to divert attention from the Indian atrocities in Kashmir.   Lodhi also negated the impression given by the Indian minister that “India never imposed any pre-conditions before talks with Pakistan” and claimed that India had suspended talks more than a year ago, and has refused to resume these despite repeated offers from Pakistan. She reminded Swaraj that the latest offer of talks with India was made by Pakistan’s Prime Minister himself from the rostrum of the General Assembly on 21 September.

It must be remembered that Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke at United Nations General Assembly and termed Pakistan an exporter

of terrorism. Swaraj, in her speech, also said that Pakistan “must abandon the dream” of Kashmir and termed the disputed territory as an “integral part of India”. Dubbed as a response to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s UNGA speech by the Indian MEA spokesman, Sushma also accused Pakistan of human rights violations in its own territory and “blaming India for the same” in Kashmir.  “In our midst, there are nations that still speak the language of terrorism, that nurture it, peddle it and export it,” said Swaraj.   In an apparent call for Pakistan’s diplomatic isolation, Sushma added that “such countries should have no place in the comity of nations”.  

 

The Indian Minister also claimed that India never put before any “unacceptable preconditions” for talks with Pakistan and maintained that India in fact “took the initiative to resolve the issues not on the basis of conditions but on the basis of friendship”.

Sushma Swaraj’s speech at UNGA

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