I have requested the floor to respond to the comments made by the delegation of India. The observations made by my delegation might be uncomfortable for India, but they remain irrefutable facts, says a press release received here today from New York.
The extremist ideology pervasive in India today, along with its offensive doctrines and hegemonic pretensions; its quest for conventional and strategic military dominance; a history of aggression against its neighbours; and the refusal to engage in a dialogue or mediation on dispute resolution, confidence building or risk reduction, present a clear and ominous danger. Not just to Pakistan, but to regional and international peace and security.
India’s illegal actions in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, coupled with its belligerent rhetoric, have compounded the regional security situation.
Contrary to the assertion made, these issues are completely relevant to this Committee’s work, as they carry grave implications for regional and international peace and security.
The spurious claim that India’s security compulsions are not confined to any geographical region is belied by the fact that over 70 percent of its offensive capabilities are deployed against Pakistan.
Moreover, India’s senior political and military leadership has openly resorted to irresponsible rhetoric against Pakistan, which reflects a dangerous hegemonic mindset.
To quote just one example:
• In April 2019, at a public rally in Rajasthan, Prime Minister Modi said that India’s nuclear weapons “are not for celebrating ‘Diwali’, while boasting that India had the capability to launch nuclear attacks from land, air and sea.
These reckless statements and irresponsible rhetoric have a direct bearing on matters of regional and global peace and security, as well as on the discussions on nuclear arms, that Indian leadership brandishes and threatens to use.
Moreover, the Indian delegation’s statement did not address the facts presented by my delegation regarding its destabilizing arms build-up and aggressive military policies.
The international community and the vital organs of the Disarmament Machinery have a duty to take note of these reckless statements and the dangerous policies and doctrines that threaten regional and international peace and security.
Let me also remind the Indian delegation that Jammu and Kashmir is neither an integral part of India, nor is it India’s internal matter. In accordance with several UN Security Council resolutions, it is an internationally recognised disputed territory, whose final status is to be decided through a UN supervised plebiscite, and in line with the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
As for India’s unmerited claim about its support for FMCT, after amassing tons of unsafeguarded fissile material as a so-called “strategic reserve”, directly aided and abetted by discriminatory waivers from the NSG and nuclear cooperation agreements with several supplier countries, India’s declaratory position in favour of commencement of FMCT negotiations is nothing more than grandstanding.
Pakistan’s position on an FMCT is guided by our national security interests. The treaty should provide undiminished security for all States, as recognized by SSOD-I.
It should contribute both to the objectives of nuclear disarmament as well as non-proliferation in all its aspects.
Pakistan is open and constructive in our engagement to find a solution that addresses the concerns of all affected countries.
In this regard, Pakistan has offered many proposals and ideas, both bilaterally as well as in the CD, which have been repeatedly rejected by India. Pakistan reiterates its willingness to go along with negotiations on a fissile material treaty that expressly includes existing stocks in its scope.
Pakistan strongly rejects the self-serving and groundless Indian assertions of so-called “cross-border terrorism”, which are meant to divert the world’s attention and to justify India’s illegal actions and destabilizing policies.
The fact of the matter, Mr. Chairman, is that it is India which has used terrorism as an instrument of its coercive policies against each one of its neighbours; and against its own Muslim population, particularly in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The international community does not need lectures from the representatives of a State whose leadership seeks to achieve domestic gains by seriously jeopardizing peace and security in South Asia; which is systematically pursuing its extremist-fascist agenda to the detriment of regional stability, and which is engaged in a brutal suppression of the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination for over seventy years now.
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