74th UNGA: India’s Stance ‘Unprecedented’, Kashmir Issue Likely To Take Center Stage!

Amid the heated discussions around the Article 370 issue, India’s stance at the upcoming UN General Assembly is ‘unprecedented’.

The India’s Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said this in a media briefing on September 19, 2019.

Briefing reports with more details, the official said India’s outreach and engagement at the high-level meeting part of the 74^th UNGA session is going to be ‘unprecedented’ this time.

Akbaruddin informed that around 75 heads of different states are expected to meet Indian PM and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar during the UNGA session, set to begin the coming week.

Asked if the Kashmir issue would come up for discussion in the session, the official opined that Islamabad may deliberately engage in ‘hate speech’.

“What they want to do is their call. We’ve seen them mainstream terrorism in the past. And what you’re now telling me is they may want to mainstream hate speech. It’s their call, if they want to do that. Poison pens don’t work for too long,” reads a statement by Syed Akbaruddin.

In response to a question as to ‘how India reacts to such situation’, he said, “There may be some who stoop low. Our response to them is we soar high. They may stoop low, we soar high.”

He added that the range of bilateral and plurilateral talks that Indian PM is scheduled to have indicate ‘how India will soar higher’.

“We are confident that we will soar. We have given you examples of how we will not stoop. We will soar when they stoop low,” Akbaruddin reportedly said.

What Pak Says?

The discussions between the two nations heated up on lines of the Kashmir issue. Indian officials opine that Pakistan is trying to internationalize the matter even after India’s assertion that ‘it is an internal issue’.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has already vowed to raise the issue at the international level at the UNGA session on September 27, 2019.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has also confirmed that the Pakistan PM will forcefully raise the issue in front of the international community.