India on Friday came down heavily on Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that his views reflect his great anger with the way India has exposed his country on the 26/11 attack. In a statement, the India’s External Affairs ministry slammed Bhutto Zardari for the “uncivilised outburst”, and said that the comments are a new low, even for Pakistan.
“Pakistan FM’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their State policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah,” the statement read.
Bhutto, who was in New York to participate in the UN meetings, on Friday, took a veiled jibe at PM Modi, after Minister S Jaishankar slammed Pakistan for raising the Kashmir issue in the council and said that a country that hosted slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and attacked a neighbouring Parliament does not have the credentials to “sermonise” in the power UN organ.
Responding to the Pakistan minister’s comment, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has obviously forgotten this day in 1971, which was a direct result of the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the treatment of its minorities. It certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India.”
The statement added: “Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr, and shelters terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. No other country can boast having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities!” the government said in a statement firmly condemning the Pakistan Foreign Minister for his comments.
The government said that the Pakistan Foreign Minister should have listened more sincerely yesterday at the UN Security Council to the testimony of Anjali Kulthe, a Mumbai nurse who saved the lives of 20 pregnant women from the bullets of the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. “Clearly, the Foreign Minister was more interested in whitewashing Pakistan’s role. Pakistan FM’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their State policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah,” said the government said in a statement.
“As recent conferences and events have demonstrated, counter terrorism remains high on the global agenda. Pakistan’s indisputable role in sponsoring, harbouring, and actively financing terrorist and terrorist organisations remains under the scanner. Pakistan FM’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies,” said the MEA in its statement.
Bhutto raised the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council Open Debate on ‘Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism’, which is a signature event held under India’s Presidency of the 15-nation Council, a PTI report said.
(With PTI inputs)
