Pakistan is Terroristan: India’s Response to Pak PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at United Nations

New Delhi: India on Friday gave a fitting response to Pakistan’s rhetoric at the United Nations, saying the neighbour has now become synonymous with terrorism.

“In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of pure has actually produced 'the land of pure terror'. Pakistan is now ‘Terroristan’, with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism," Eenam Gambhir, India’s First Secretary to the United Nations, said at the world body.

Gambhir’s statement came as India exercised its right to reply to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s speech at the UN General Assembly, where he raked up the Kashmir issue and accused India of “terrorism against Pakistan".

“By now, all Pakistans neighbours are painfully familiar with these tactics to create a narrative based on distortions, deception and deceit," Gambhir said, asserting that efforts at creating alternative facts do not change reality.

Hitting back, India reminded Pakistan and the United Nations of terrorists, including 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who continue to enjoy safe havens in the neighbouring country. New Delhi also pointed out that Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar were both found to have been living in Pakistan.

“It is extraordinary that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should have the gumption to play the victim.... Its current state can be gauged from the fact that Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, a leader of the UN designated terrorist organization Lashkar-i-Taiba, is now sought to be legitimised as a leader of a political party," Eenam Gambhir said.

Full text of India's reply at the United Nations General Assembly

India said Pakistan’s counter-terrorism policy is to mainstream and upstream terrorists by either providing safe havens to global terror leaders in its military town, or protecting them with “political careers".

India also rebuked its neighbour for repeatedly raising the Kashmir rhetoric at international forums, including the UN. “… Pakistan must understand that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is and will always remain an integral part of India," Gambhir said.

New Delhi also advised Islamabad to first keep its house in order before “lecturing" India on protection of human rights. “The world does not need lessons on democracy and human rights from a country whose own situation is charitably described as a failed state."

Gambhir said having diverted billions of dollars in international military and development aid towards creating a “dangerous infrastructure of terror" on its own territory, Pakistan is now speaking of the high cost of its terror industry. “The polluter, in this case, is paying the price," she said.

Moments after India’s reply at the United Nations, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah took to Twitter to draw Pakistan’s attention to a Security Council resolution of 1948.