Nawaz Sharif's speech discredits statesmanship of a Prime Minister: Congress

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday castigated Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's speech at the 17st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and said that his address discredited the kind of responsible statesmanship expected from the Prime Minster of a nation.

Dubbing Sharif as a disappointment, Tharoor said that Sharif hailed a militant and spoke about internal matter of a neighbouring nation, but did not speak what he was suppose to.

"Mr. Nawaz Sharif has become more of a disappointment. He is hailing a terrorist, who loved using social media to publicize pictures of him as a gun toting, bearded, fatigue wearing commando. He is now praising this chap as a youthful leader of a peaceful and freedom loving protest. This kind of nonsense discredits the kind of responsible statesmanship you expect from the Prime Minster of a country," Tharoor told ANI.

"If you look at the speech which Mr. Nawaz Sharif gave Kashmir occupies half the speech. What does the world wants to hear from him? The world wants to hear from him is Pakistan will stop providing shelter to terrorism that it will stop allowing forces based on its territory from destabilizing its neighbours, whether it is Afghanistan or India, instead of which he devotes half his time talking about internal affairs of a neighbouring country," he added.

Tharoor further said that Sharif's speech confirm that India does not need to waste its time talking to him. And that it's high time that now India changes its approach to deal with Pakistan.

While addressing at 71st session UNGA, Sharif said, "Burhan Wani, the young leader murdered by Indian forces, has emerged as the symbol of the latest Kashmiri Intifada, a popular and peaceful freedom movement, led by Kashmiris."

The Prime Minister also extended support to the demands of Kashmiri people for self determination and called on the UN Security Council to hold free and fair plebiscite.

"The Security Council has called for the exercise of the right to self- determination by the people of Jammu and Kashmir through a free and fair plebiscite held under the UN auspices. The Security Council must honour its commitments by implementing its own decisions," he said.

He further demanded an independent inquiry and a UN fact finding mission to investigate the situation in Kashmir.