Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told the United Nations Saturday that no country should exploit the turmoil in Afghanistan for its own advantage after Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan appealed for nations to work with the Taliban.
Modi’s address came after India upbraided Islamabad both in Washington and at the UN General Assembly where the rivals clashed over Khan’s speech late Friday that accused the Indian government of conducting a ‘reign of terror’ on Muslims.
‘It is absolutely essential to ensure that Afghanistan’s territory is not used to spread terrorism and for terrorist attacks,’ said Modi.
‘We also need to be alert and ensure that no country tries to take advantage of the delicate situation there and use it as a tool for its own selfish interests,’ he said.
Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan on Friday at the United Nations accused the rival of a ‘reign of terror’ on Muslims, drawing a stern rebuke.
Even for Pakistan, which routinely castigates India at the world body, Imran Khan’s speech to the annual summit was strikingly loaded as he accused Indian prime minister Narendra Modi of a plan to ‘purge India of Muslims.’
‘The worst and most pervasive form of Islamophobia now rules India,’ Khan said in an address, delivered by video due to Covid precautions.
Khan accused a world eager for India’s billion-plus market of giving ‘complete impunity’ to Modi in a speech that was loaded even for Pakistan, which routinely castigates India at the United Nations.
‘The hate-filled Hindutva ideology, propagated by the fascist RSS-BJP regime, has unleashed a reign of fear and violence against India’s 200 million-strong Muslim community,’ he said.
Khan was referring to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the affiliated Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a century-old Hindu revivalist movement with a paramilitary component.
Under Modi, India has rescinded the statehood of Kashmir, its only Muslim-majority region, pushed through a citizenship law that critics call discriminatory and has witnessed repeated flare-ups of religious-based violence.
Khan, addressing the UN General Assembly, said that the Taliban have promised to respect human rights and build an inclusive government since taking over last month, despite global disappointment in a caretaker cabinet.
‘If the world community incentivises them, and encourages them to walk this talk, it will be a win-win situation for everyone,’ Khan said.
‘We must strengthen and stabilise the current government, for the sake of the people of Afghanistan,’ he said.
Khan, a longstanding critic of the 20-year US war ended by president Joe Biden, blamed imprecise US drone strikes for the flareup of extremism inside Pakistan and pointed to Islamabad’s cooperation with US forces.
‘There is a lot of worry in the US about taking care of the interpreters and everyone who helped the US. What about us?’ Khan said.
‘At least there should have been a word of appreciation. But rather than appreciation, imagine how we feel when we are blamed for the turn of events in Afghanistan,’ he said.
