India claims diplomatic victory over Pak in UN

India on Thursday expressed diplomatic victory in noting that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif got no support from the international community in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) previous night as no one from 50 countries that have spoken in the general assembly referred to the issues on which he had devoted 80% of his speech.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said the UN Secretary General even did not mention a dossier reportedly handed over to him by Nawaz and instead made it clear that he would not intervene in the Kashmir issue that he wants resolved bilaterally.

Terrorism was highlighted by the Secretary General as one of the primary areas of concern and everyone who spoke at the general assembly so far condemned terrorism and called for peace and security, Nawaz being the only person in the denial mode, Swarup asserted at his weekly media briefing here. He said this itself shows how successful Pakistan's strategy was.

Without mentioning China, a friend of Pakistan, he noted that even four of the five members of the UN Security Council spoke against terrorism. Only exception is Russia which has not yet spoken but its stand on terrorism is wellknown, he said.

Asked if India will also present a dossier in the United Nations to expose Pakistan''s sponsorship of terrorism, Swarup quipped: "No need. The whole world is aware about Pakistan's role."

As regards whether External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will spell out Pakistan's role on Monday when she addresses the UNGA, he advised: "Wait and watch."

SAARC SUMMIT: He also kept up the suspense on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will boycott the 19th SAARC summit to be held on November 9 and 10 in Pakistan at Islamabad and Murree to lodge India''s strong protest. He quipped: "Every question does not have yes or no answer."

Asked if India would press in the United Nations or the Security Council to declare Pakistan a "terror state," he said India has been continuously apprising the world how Pakistan treats terrorist as its "state policy" and it hopes that the countries suffering from the terrorist attacks sponsored from Pakistan, including one in New York, will force Pakistan to stop sponsoring terrorism.

On India itself declaring Pakistan a "terror state," Swarup said India does not have a provision to declare any country as a "terror state." Asked if India should at least break away the diplomatic relations with Pakistan, he referred to a demarche (diplomatic protest) on Wednesday to Pakistan High Commissioner by the foreign secretary and said no such demarche can be issued if there is no diplomatic relations.

Giving details of foreign secretary Jaishankar''s summons to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, Swarup said India offered to shared finger prints and DNA samples of the terrorists involved in the Uri and earlier Poonch incidents if the Pakistan Government wants to investigate the cross-border attacks by verifying these with its national data bank.