External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar sent a strongly-worded warning to Pakistan when he addressed the 79th United Nations General Assembly session in New York .
Talking about Pakistan’s decades-old policy of terrorism, Mr Jaishankar warned Islamabad that its “actions will most certainly have consequences”.
Mr Jaishankar, who spoke about the ‘Pakistan problem’ towards the end of his nearly-twenty-minute speech, made it clear to Islamabad that “Pakistan’s policy of cross-border terrorism can and will never succeed”.
Pakistan, which has been facing its worst economic crises since its formation in 1947, has been left behind because of its “conscious choices with disastrous consequences”, the External Affairs Minister said.
“Many countries get left behind due to circumstances beyond their control. But some make conscious choices with disastrous consequences. A premier example is our neighbour, Pakistan. Unfortunately, their misdeeds affect others as well, especially the neighbourhood,” Mr Jaishankar said.
Highlighting the impact of Islamabad’s terror policies, Mr Jaishankar said “When this polity instils such fanaticism among its people, its GDP can only be measured in terms of radicalisation and its exports in the form of terrorism.”
Taking a swipe at Pakistan’s fate due to is policy of radicalising its citizens, especially the youth, the foreign minister said, “Today, we see the ills it sought to visit on others consume its own society. It can’t blame the world; this is only karma,”
The foreign minister further said that “A dysfunctional nation coveting the lands of others must be exposed and must be countered. We heard some bizarre assertions from it at this forum yesterday. So let me make India’s position perfectly clear.”
Just before concluding his speech, Mr Jaishankar said, “Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism policy will never succeed. And it can have no expectation of impunity,” adding that “On the contrary, actions will certainly have consequences. The issue to be resolved between us is now only the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan. And of course, the abandonment of Pakistan’s longstanding attachment to terrorism.”
