Titled at UN: 'Terroristan'

Charu Sudan Kasturi, TT, New Delhi. Sept. 22: India has unleashed a fresh missile from its armoury of epithets against Pakistan on terrorism, calling its neighbour "Terroristan" in a heated exchange between the South Asian rivals at the UN in New York.

Pakistan, which literally means land of the pure, had turned into a land of "pure terrorism", Indian diplomat Eenam Gambhir said late last night in a statement responding to allegations against New Delhi by Pakistan's Prime Minister.

Ahead of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj's address to the UN General Assembly in New York at 7.30pm India time on Saturday, India used a right to respond to addresses at the General Assembly to hit back at Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in language uncharacteristically acerbic for that platform.

Pakistan responded to Gambhir's comments with an equally harsh statement, publicly referring to national security adviser Ajit Doval and blaming him for spawning "insecurity" in the region.

"In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror," Gambhir, first secretary at the Indian mission at the UN, said. "The quest for a land of pure has actually produced 'the land of pure terror'. Pakistan is now 'Terroristan', with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism."

Tipu Usman, a diplomat at Pakistan's UN mission, responded to Gambhir, naming Doval as a threat to stability in the region.

"India remains responsible for undermining regional peace and stability," he said. "The strategy of offensive defence and double squeeze, of NSA Doval, can never succeed."

Officials said they could not recall the last occasion when Pakistan had publicly blamed a senior Indian official at the UN, as Usman did.

Abbasi had earlier yesterday, New York time, accused India of terrorism in his country and of suppressing the human rights of the people of Kashmir, while addressing the UN General Assembly.

Abbasi had also threatened India, warning that if its troops cross the Line of Control or engage in a "limited war" against Pakistan, "it will evoke a strong and matching response".

Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Asif today exchanged pleasantries with Sushma and inquired about her health at a diplomatic reception. Asif told a group of Pakistani journalists that Sushma had told him she was fine.

"Terroristan" is only the latest phrase that India has used in a little over a year to describe Pakistan, at a time the neighbours have minimal diplomatic relations and appear far removed from any serious breakthrough towards a fresh peace dialogue.

Gambhir herself had last September referred to Pakistan as the "Ivy League of terrorism", in her response to then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Days before that, home minister Rajnath Singh had called Pakistan a "terrorist state that must be isolated", following the attack on an army base in Uri.

At the UN Human Rights Council on September 16 last year, India had described Pakistan as the "epicentre of terrorism". Then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had referred to Pakistan as "hell" in August 2016.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) summit in Goa last October, called Pakistan the "mothership of terrorism".

Today, Gambhir cited the participation of a front headed by Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Sayeed in upcoming elections in Pakistan as an example of that country's double standard on terrorism. The Lashkar is banned as a terrorist entity by the UN, and most major countries.

Saeed, she said, "is now sought to be legitimised as a leader of a political party".

Gambhir, who also responded to Sharif at the UN last year, criticised cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, and referred to the discovery of former al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

Abbasi had referred to Pakistan's sacrifices in the war against terrorism, including the death of thousands of civilians and security personnel. But Gambhir indicated India viewed those deaths a consequence of Pakistan's own facilitation of multiple terror groups that target India and Afghanistan.

"In this case, the polluter pays," she said.