Vikas Swarup calls for de-terrorising Pakistan

NewsGram Staff Writer

New York: Terming Kashmir as "oppressed by foreign occupation", India on Thursday hit back at Pakistan at the UN General Assembly, saying that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "gets foreign occupation right, occupier wrong. We urge early vacation of Pak occupied Kashmir".

Sharif equated Kashmir with Palestine and portrayed it as a religious issue.

Sharif said, "Muslims are suffering across the world: Palestinians and Kashmiris are oppressed by foreign occupation".

In a series of tweets after Sharif's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where he proposed "peace initiatives" including "de-militarising Kashmir", Vikas Swarup said, "to de-militarise Kashmir is not the answer, to de-terrorise Pakistan is" – in reference to the militants who infiltrate from Pakistan and cause terror acts in the state.

Referring to Sharif saying that his country is a major victim of terrorism, Swarup said Pakistan is the prime sponsor of terrorism.

"Pakistan is not the primary victim of terrorism but of its own policies. It is in fact the prime sponsor of terrorism," he posted.

"Pakistan's instability arises from its breeding of terrorists. Blaming neighbours is not a solution," he said.

On Thursday, India is to give a rebuttal to Pakistan's speech. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will give the reply.

(With inputs from IANS)