November 08, 2024 03:16 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Supreme Court refuses to transfer RG Kar case trial outside Bengal | India cancels consular camps in Toronto citing security issues days after Hindu temple attack | S Jaishankar meets Australian PM Anthony Albanese in Canberra, discusses bilateral partnership | India slams Canada for blocking Australian outlet that interviewed Jaishankar, says it highlights Ottawa's 'hypocrisy' | After Salman, now Shah Rukh Khan receives death threat, case filed
UN: India says Pakistan must eschew terrorism before talks can begin

UN: India says Pakistan must eschew terrorism before talks can begin

| | 02 Oct 2015, 10:50 am
New York, Oct 2 (IBNS): In her address at the 70th United Nations General Assembly, Sushma Swaraj, India’s Minister for External Affairs responded to Pakistan’s peace initiative underscoring that while her country remains open to dialogue, Pakistan must eschew terrorism before serious talks between the two sides could begin.

“We do not need four points, we need just one – give up terrorism and let us sit down and talk. This was precisely what was discussed and decided by the two Prime Ministers at Ufa this July,” she asserted at the annual General Debate, referring to the proposal presented by Pakistan on Wednesday.

She said that it is unacceptable for a country to support terrorism as part of statecraft. She also deplored Pakistan’s inaction against terrorists who masterminded the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

She said, “The world shared our outrage at the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which citizens of many nations were helplessly butchered. That the mastermind behind the attack is walking free is an affront to the entire international community."

"Not only have past assurances in this regard not been honoured but new cross-border terrorist attacks have taken place recently, in which two terrorists from across the border have also been captured alive,” she added.

Swaraj said that the purpose of these attacks is meant to destabilize India and “legitimize Pakistan's illegal occupation of parts of…Jammu and Kashmir and its claim on the rest of it.”

However, she also asserted that ‘India remains open to dialogue’ but insisted that talks and terror cannot go together.

“Let us hold talks at the level of National Security Agency (NSAs) on all issues connected to terrorism and an early meeting of our Directors General of Military Operations to address the situation on the border. If the response is serious and credible, India is prepared to address all outstanding issues through a bilateral dialogue,” said Swaraj.

She also reiterated India’s stance on defeating international terrorism through organized international action.

She said, “The world must demonstrate that it has zero tolerance for terrorists who kill and maim innocent civilians with action based on the principle of prosecute or extradite."

"Countries that provide financing to terrorists and safe havens for their training, arming and operations must be made to pay a heavy price by the international community,” she said.

She also urged the pressing need to reform the UN Security Council to preserve the centrality and legitimacy of the UN.

“How can we have a Security Council in 2015 which still reflects the geo-political architecture of 1945? How can we have a Security Council which still does not give place as a permanent member to Africa and Latin America?” she asked.

She further suggested that more developing nations be included in the decision-making structures of the Security Council. She also pressed for changing what she described as the Council’s outdated and non-transparent working methods.

Swaraj also applauded UN’s recent adoption of Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), calling them ‘”a blueprint more comprehensive and holistic than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

UN Photo/Cia Pak

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.