Venkaiah counters Pak at NAM summit

New Delhi, October 25

Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu today countered Pakistani accusations on Kashmir at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, terming these as a ploy to justify its long-standing policy of conducting cross-border terrorism against its neighbours.

Naidu sought to widen the ambit of countries complaining of cross-border terrorism originating from Pakistan by pointing out that India was speaking for the wider region, and not just Jammu and Kashmir.

At the NAM summit as well as during meetings with other world leaders on its margins, Pakistan President Arif Alvi has spoken of a “continuous lockdown and human rights abuses” in Kashmir.

Taking umbrage, Naidu regretted the misuse of the forum, especially by the “contemporary epicentre — Pakistan”. He said: “Indeed, we speak for the larger region in terms of this deep concern over Pakistan’s behaviour... Pakistan clearly needs to do much more to earn the confidence of the international community. It must decisively abjure terrorism, for its own good, for that of its neighbours and for the good of the world.” India and Pakistan have a history of clashing over Kashmir at various NAM fora. At the June NAM ministerial meeting in Venezuela, India’s Permanent Representative at the UN Syed Akbaruddin had said the forum should not be used for venting bilateral grievances after Pakistan’s Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas referred to a UN report on Kashmir. At last year’s NAM ministerial in Baku, Indian diplomat Priyanka Mehtani had asked Pakistan to refrain from giving a self-serving narrative. — TNS

Abjure terrorism

Pakistan must decisively abjure terrorism, for its own good, for that of its neighbours and for the good of the world.— Venkaiah Naidu, Vice-president