Jaishankar Responds to Pakistani Journalist at UN: ‘A Terrorist Country Is Asking Me That?’
United Nations — External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar responded sharply to a Pakistani journalist who interrupted a news conference at the United Nations on Friday with questions about India.
“A terrorist country is asking me that? Come on!” Jaishankar said.
The exchange took place during a joint news conference with Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti following the launch of the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers.
When the journalist continued speaking, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations P. Harish said, “You hear him loud and clear!”
The incident came a day after an Indian journalist questioned Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif outside the UN General Assembly about terrorism.
“Prime Minister, when will you stop harbouring terrorists?” the reporter asked as Sharif arrived at UN headquarters.
Sharif did not respond and continued walking.
The issue was raised again as he left the UN premises, when the reporter asked, “When will you prosecute Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed?”
Sharif again did not answer.
Hafiz Saeed is the founder of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a proscribed terrorist organization. He is listed as a global terrorist by the United Nations, and the United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his conviction.
The exchanges followed another confrontation between India and Pakistan at the United Nations earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi criticized Pakistan at the UN Human Rights Council, accusing Islamabad of supporting cross-border terrorism while facing serious economic problems.
“Pakistan would better serve its people by focusing on development, rather than by coveting territory of others or exporting terror, because neither these nor its theatrics in the Council would help repay the loans its economy survives on,” Tyagi said.
Tyagi also cited reports of civilian deaths, arrests and restrictions on access to food and medicine in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
“This Council was told last Friday of scores of civilians killed since June in the territory Pakistan occupies, of students arrested in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and of food and medicine held back. When those accounts were given, Pakistan’s answer was a point of order,” he said.
“If any delegation in this room meets every objective criterion for this Council’s scrutiny, it is Pakistan.” (Source: IANS)
