File photo: PM Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Kathmandu, Nepal
In a strong rebuttal of Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif's speech at the United Nations, India today accused him of misusing the global forum to "distort reality and portray a false picture of the challenges in our region."
New Delhi sent out one of its toughest messages in years when it exercised a
Right of Reply at the UN to say that Mr Sharif's portrayal of Pakistan as the "primary victim of terrorism" was inaccurate; it was in fact "a victim of its own policies of breeding and sponsoring terrorists."
"The heart of the matter is a state that regards the use of terrorism as a legitimate instrument of statecraft. The world watches with concern as its consequences have spread beyond its immediate neighbourhood," said Abhishek Singh, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.
Mr Sharif had in his speech at the UN on Wednesday brought up
Kashmir, saying non-resolution of the issue was a failure of the world body, and had proposed a four-point "peace initiative" including steps to demilitarize Kashmir and an unconditional mutual withdrawal from Siachen Glacier.
Mr Sharif also said Pakistan is the "primary victim" of terrorism.
"To de-militarize Kashmir is not the answer, to de-terrorize Pakistan is," tweeted foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup soon after Mr Sharif's address.
Pakistan, said Mr Singh in his statement, was "seeking to mask its activities as though an outcome of domestic discontent in the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir carries no credibility with the world".
"All of us stand prepared to help, if only the creators of this monster wake up to the dangers of what they have done to themselves," Mr Singh added.
On Mr Sharif saying Jammu and Kashmir is "under foreign occupation", Mr Singh said, "It is, except that the occupier in question is Pakistan."
On the weekend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in an
address to the Indian community in San Jose, California described terrorism as one of the biggest threats to the world, and said, "If it has taken the UN 15 years to define terrorism, how many years will they take to fight it?"
In an apparent dig at Pakistan the PM had said, "They can't distinguish between good terrorism and bad terrorism in our world...but that is not true. Terrorism is terrorism."
He had earlier written to UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, appealing to the UN to send an unambiguous message of "zero tolerance against terrorism."