 "Nawaz Sharif")
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raked up the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday and tried to burnish his country's credentials as an opponent of global terrorism.
His speech, which also referred to the prevailing situation in Europe and the Middle East, attempted to paint India as an uncooperative neighbour which had rebuffed Sahrif's overtures for peace.
His speech came days after suspected Pakistan-based terrorists attacked an Indian army camp in Uri, in Kashmir, and killed 18 Indian soldiers. The four terrorists who participated in the attack were also eliminated by the security forces during the attack.
ALSO READ: Pak PM Sharif should have talked about Balochistan not Kashmir: Baloch activist
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India for its part reacted very strongly to the Pakistani prime minister's speech, calling it an act of "self-incrimination" on the latter's part.
Here are the top 10 things Sharif said at the UNGA and India's rebuttal to some of them:
1) Describing Burhan Wani, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander who was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8, as a "young leader", Sharif said that he had emerged as a "symbol of the latest Kashmiri Intifada" after he was "murdered" by security forces.
India's Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar responded to Sharif's description of Wani by saying that what India saw was "... the glorification of a terrorist. Wani is declared commander of Hizbul, widely acknowledged as a terror group. It is shocking that a leader of a nation can glorify a self-advertised terrorist at such a forum. This is self incrimination by Pakistan PM."
2) Sharif said that Pakistan wanted peace with India and that he had gone "the extra mile" to achieve that aim. He added that he had repeatedly made offers for a dialogue "to address all outstanding issues".
India rejected Sharif's call for sustained dialogue, with Akbar saying that Islamabad was talking about dialogue with a "gun in its hand".
3) Insisting that resolving the Kashmir dispute was essential for peace between Pakistan and India and that dialogue was necessary for that process, Sharif alleged that India was posing "unacceptable preconditions" before being willing to participate in a dialogue.
Buttressing India's position on dialogue with Pakistan, Akbar said, "Pakistan at this moment seems to be run by a war machine rather than a government. Pakistan wants dialogue while holding a terrorist gun in its hand." He added, "Talks and guns don't go together. Our position on a dialogue has been consistent. We have always been ready for a dialogue but we will not succumb to the blackmail tactics of the government in Islamabad that seems eager to use terrorists and terrorism as policy."
4) Asserting Pakistan's support for "the demand of the Kashmiri people for self-determination", Sharif accused India of perpetrating atrocities in the Valley through its security forces. He informed the General Assembly that his country would share a "dossier" containing details of India's alleged "gross and systematic violations of human rights" in what Sharif called "occupied" Kashmir with the Secretary General.
Rejecting Sharif's statement that India was committing atrocities in Kashmir and was holding it under occupation, Akbar said that "the only occupation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is a part of India, is the occupation of a part of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan occupation army".
5) Sharif demanded an "independent enquiry into the extra-judicial killings" and a UN fact-finding mission to Kashmir "so that those guilty of these atrocities are punished".
6) Sharif also demanded the immediate release of all "Kashmiri political prisoners" and an end to curfews in the Valley. He also asked for the removal of the foreign travel ban on Kashmiri leaders.
7) The Pakistani prime minister also called for a "free and fair plebiscite held under UN auspices" in Kashmir and called on the UN Security Council to "honour its commitments...".
8) Calling Pakistan a "responsible nuclear weapon state", Sharif said that his country is "fully eligible" for Nuclear Suppliers’ Group membership.
9) Projecting Pakistan as a major victim of "externally sponsored" terrorism, Sharif said that the Pakistani army's "Zarb-e-Azb Operation" was the "largest, most robust and most successful" anti-terrorism operation in the world.
10) Burnishing his own government's credentials, Sharif said that despite the prevailing international economic conditions, his government had move Pakistan towards "robust growth".
