New Delhi: India on Friday launched a no-holds-barred attack on Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for his “uncivilised” outburst against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the comments were a “new low” even for that country.
In a strong condemnation, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Pakistan foreign minister’s “frustration” would be better directed towards the “masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country” that has made terrorism a part of its “state policy”.
“Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr, and shelters terrorists like (Zakiur Rehman) Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. No other country can boast of having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities,” Bagchi said.
Bagchi said Pakistan foreign minister’s “uncivilised outburst” seemed to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their “proxies”.
The Pakistan foreign minister resorted to a personal attack against PM Modi and slammed the RSS after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s highlighted Pakistan’s support to various terror groups and described the country as the “epicentre of terrorism”.
Jaishankar told the UN Security Council that the “contemporary epicentre of terrorism” remains very much active and called for collective action to tackle them. Though Jaishankar did not name any countries, it was apparent that he was making a veiled reference to Pakistan.
Later, he told reporters that the world sees Pakistan as the “epicenter of terrorism” and recalled US leader Hillary Clinton’s blunt message to Islamabad in 2011 that snakes in one’s backyard will eventually bite those who keep them.
Reacting to Pakistan Foreign Minister’s comments, Bagchi 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 and it certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India, Bagchi added.
The spokesperson was referring to India’s victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, which led to the birth of Bangladesh.
“Pakistan’s indisputable role in sponsoring, harbouring, and actively financing terrorist and terrorist organisations remains under the scanner. Pakistan foreign minister’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies,” he said.
The MEA spokesperson said cities like New York, Mumbai, Pulwama, Pathankot and London are among the many that bear the scars of “Pakistan-sponsored, supported and instigated terrorism”.
“This violence has emanated from their Special Terrorist Zones and exported to all parts of the world. ‘Make in Pakistan’ terrorism has to stop,” Bagchi said.
“We wish that Pakistan foreign minister would 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,” Bagchi said.
“Clearly, the foreign minister was more interested in whitewashing Pakistan’s role,” he added.
Bagchi further said that Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a “pariah”.
Lashing out at Bhutto for his “butcher of Gujarat” jibe at Modi, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi said nothing better can be expected from Pakistan as these are the persons who have butchered people in Balochistan.
“Normally that is not the way the foreign minister of any sovereign nation speaks. But it is Pakistan. What can you expect from it? These are the people who have butchered people in Balochistan. These are the people who have butchered people in Kashmir. These are the butchers of Punjab. These are the butchers of Karachi,” she told reporters.
