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India slams Burhan Wani reference in Nawaz Sharif’s UNGA speech

Gambhir invoked the 9/11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center that killed about 3,000 people in 2001 and marked a tectonic shift in the worldwide recognition of the horrors of terrorism.

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“The prime minister might strike a balance in his speech”.

The address would also expose conspiracies hatched by India against Pakistan, for which all eyes would be on the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the UNGA.

In response, Swarup in another post on Twitter said, “PM Sharif at #UNGA says India poses unacceptable conditions to dialogue”.

In an op-ed, Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation said that the United States should also condition military assistance to Pakistan on its success in cracking down on terror groups and called on Indian and Pakistani officials to tone down their rhetoric against each other and refrain from making references to developments in territory under the other’s control. New Delhi must realise that talks on the table alone would resolve outstanding issues and reduce chances of escalation of hostilities, he added.

Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, is at the heart the neighbors’ seven decades of distrust.

Sharif also upped the pitch+ on events in Jammu and Kashmir by describing the slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani+ as a “young leader” who had emerged as a symbol of latest Kashmiri “Intifada” before he was “murdered” by Indian forces, omitting mention of the young man’s association with a banned terror outfit.

Tensions have intensified since the July 8 killing of a popular Kashmir rebel commander by Indian soldiers.

“We can not and will not allow terrorism to prevail”, she said. India accuses Pakistan of supporting rebels in Indian-held Kashmir. He will also urge the world body to intervene to enforce United Nations resolutions for a plebiscite in Kashmir. Sharif devoted much of his 20-minute speech to Kashmir and the current situation in the Valley and said Pakistan “fully supports the demand of the Kashmiri people for self-determination”.

He also said the United Nations must ensure de-militarisation of Kashmir.

Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Centre, said: “India may well decide to introduce some subtle means of punishing Pakistan into its policy toolkit”.

“We are neither willing nor are engaged in an armed race with India”.

Sharif also made a reference to India’s defence budget, saying, “We can not ignore our neighbour’s unprecedented arms buildup. We are free to take measures to maintain credible and viable deterrence”, the prime minister argued. “Perhaps renunciation of lies and self-restraint on threats could be a good place for Pakistan to start”, Ms. Gambhir said. India hits back, says this shows Pakistan’s “continued attachment to terrorism”.

“Judged on the basis of objective criteria, and without discrimination, Pakistan is fully eligible for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group”, he said.

Voicing concern over the “strains” in Indo-Pak ties after the Uri terror attack, China on Wednesday appealed to the two countries to exercise “restraint” and engage in more dialogue to “properly” deal with disputes while remaining committed to regional peace and stability.

Meanwhile, the agencies in Pakistan have cancelled the leave of all the three wings of the defence forces there besides the Pakistani Rangers, a paramilitary force that guards International Boundary with India, amid the deteriorating relationship between the two neighbours, sources said. “We call for decisive actions to be taken within the respect of global law against terrorist groups targeting India and in particular, Lashkar-e-Tayibba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen”, France’s statement added.

He said Pakistan has been “facilitating the process of reconciliation in Afghanistan” but “progress will be assured only when the Afghan parties themselves conclude that there is no military solution to the Afghan war”.

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“Only this way can they safeguard peace”, he said.

Prime Minister seeks global community’s help to end Indian state terrorism in IOK and resolve longstanding Kashmir dispute