India seeks probe into N-links of Pak, N. Korea
Sushma to address UNGA on Sat, 2 days after Abbasi
India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday sought a probe into North Korea’s nuclear proliferation linkages and demanded that those responsible for it should be held accountable, in a veiled reference to Pakistan and the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s state visit to North Korea in 1993, when she smuggled in critical data on uranium enrichment — a route to making a nuclear weapon — to help facilitate a missile deal with Pyongyang.
Ms Swaraj’s remarks came after North Korea fired another mid-range ballistic missile over Japan on Friday. It follows North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3 which was in direct defiance of United Nations sanctions and other international pressure.
“External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj deplored North Korea’s recent actions and stated that its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved must be held accountable,” the ministry’s spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters at a news conference at the United Nations in New York.
Ms Swaraj’s remarks came as she met US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on Friday on
the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly session here.
She is scheduled to address the UNGA on September 23, two days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will speak at the UN on September 21.
The Indian foreign ministry spokesman did not specify the country referred to by Ms Swaraj, but said the hints were enough to determine that.
“I think I am giving you enough material to try to figure out what we are talking about,” Mr Kumar said.
“We have very clearly mentioned that we not only deplore DPRK’s recent actions but also stated that its proliferation linkages must be explored and those involved be held accountable,” the spokesman said.
North Korea had clandestinely received nuclear enrichment technology from Pakistan when A.Q. Khan was at the helm of Islamabad’s nuclear programme.
India’s veiled attack on Pakistan appears to be a part of its strategy to attack the neighbour before it tries to raise the Kashmir issue at the UNGA. On Sunday, India’s permanent representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin took a jibe at Pakistan and said Islamabad’s decision to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN is like “Miyan ki daud masjid tak”, referring to a popular Urdu proverb.