Nations backing terror must know it’ll hurt them too: PM
PM Modi expresses concern at ease of doing business ranks being manipulated, mentions virus origin probe in thinly veiled references to China
WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday cautioned the UN general assembly about countries with “regressive thinking” that are using terrorism as a “political tool”, and called for efforts to ensure that no country takes advantage of the “delicate situation” in Afghanistan for its own selfish interests.
Modi flew to New York from Washington after holding his first bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden in the White House and attending his first in-person Quad Summit.
Addressing the UN general assembly in Hindi, Prime Minister Modi called for the protection of oceans and ocean resources from the “race for expansion and exclusion”, saying they must be used and not abused and they are a lifeline of international trade. He did not name any country, but this appeared to be a reference to China’s increasing aggression in the Indo-pacific region.
He also warned the world body about its own diminishing relevance and credibility, reiterating a theme that he called a
“crisis of confidence” in 2020.
He said several questions are being raised about the UN and other global institutions, and mentioned specifically the issue of the origin of the Covid-19 epidemic, which the World Health Organization is widely held to have bungled under pressure from the Chinese, and the ease of Doing Business ranking, which has been suspended by the World Bank over data irregularities.
An investigation has revealed that World Bank employees changed their data to boost China’s ranking in the 2018 and 2020 “Doing Business” report.
Saturday’s speech was Modi’s fourth at the UN general assembly and came after successful bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Australia’s Scott Morrison and Japan’s Yoshihide Suga in Washington DC.
He also participated in a historic first in-person summit of the Quad group of countries that are focused on protecting the Indo-pacific from Chinese expansionism.
Without naming Pakistan, the Prime Minister said there are “countries with regressive thinking that are using terrorism as a political tool; these countries must understand that terrorism is an equally big threat for them”.
Pakistan’s continued support of terrorism also came up for discussion at Modi’s bilateral and Quad meetings in Washington DC.
Modi did not respond to charges and allegations leveled by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan in his speech to the UN general assembly on Friday, when the Indian leader was in Washington.
Khan railed against India, alleging, among other things, a “reign of terror” against Muslims.
In an official response, Sneha Dubey, a first secretary at the Indian mission to UN, dismissed Khan’s remarks, saying Paki