Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Tuesday stated that India’s claim to be a responsible country was a hypocritical gesture of virtue.
“It is highly hypocritical of a country that has systematically done away with any semblance of moderation, efforts for dialogue and abiding by international law, to project itself as the voice of these three,” FO spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said.
He said this in response to Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s statement that India will be a voice of moderation, a proponent of dialogue, and a proponent of international law during its one-month presidency of the UN Security Council.
On Sunday, India, which is a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year term, took over as the powerful 15-nation body’s president for the month of August.
The UNSC president is rotated on a monthly basis, following the English alphabetical sequence of the member states’ names. India, which joined the UNSC on January 1, 2021, will hold the presidency twice during its tenure, which ends on December 31, 2022.
Mr. Chaudhri said that radical “Hindutva” ideology had infiltrated all of India’s state institutions and that the RSS-BJP regime’s record was littered with cases of severe and systematic abuses of minorities’ rights, especially those of Muslims. As a result, it must first clean up its own home before preaching moderation to the rest of the globe.
He remembered how the Indian administration had obstructed the commencement of a serious conversation with Pakistan to normalize strained relations.
He remembered Prime Minister Imran Khan’s declaration shortly after taking office that if India took one step toward peace, Pakistan would take two.
“However, rather than engaging in dialogue, India vitiated the environment through its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019. It is India, which has to create the enabling environment for a meaningful dialogue that promotes peace and precludes the occurrences leading to conflict in the region,” he maintained.
The spokesman also referred to the violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions by India for more than seven decades. “The series of Indian illegal and unilateral actions since 5 August 2019 is also in blatant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, UNSC resolutions, and the fourth Geneva Convention,” he added.
Before presenting itself as their defender, Mr. Chaudhri urged India to follow the values of moderation, respect for international law, and discussion.
