Cornered by Sushma Swaraj, Pakistan trains guns at RSS and Yogi at UN podium

Pakistani envoy Saad Warraich trained guns at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Image: Screengrab -ABP News

New Delhi: After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj cornered Pakistan for "promoting terrorism" in the region, the neighbouring country on Sunday leveled allegations on India at the United Nations General Assembly, citing "insecurity of minorities" in the country. The international podium became witness to a tense slugfest between India and Pakistan, as an exasperated Pakistan tried to take on India in a battle of words. Pakistani envoy Saad Warraich trained guns at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Warraich said that RSS supports spread of fascism through its centres. He said: the breeding ground of terrorism in our region is the RSS centres of Fascism. The claims of religious superiority are perpetrated through straight patronage all across India. He said members of India’s minorities including Christians and Muslims are publically lynched at the hands of Hindus elites, where an unabashed Hindu extremist Yogi Adityanath who openly supports superiority of the Hindus serves as the face of the largest Indian state Uttar Pradesh..” Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had launched a blistering attack on Pakistan in her address at the UN General Assembly, after which Pakistani diplomats tried hard to do the damage control by boomeranging allegations of terror towards India. Qureshi’s statement: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had on Saturday tried to portray Pakistan as a victim of terrorism in the UN General Assembly and alleged that India was behind the attack that was carried out by the Pakistan Taliban. He also dragged in Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian that Pakistan's military courts have in violation of accepted legal norms sentenced to death on spying charges. He said raised up the Kashmir issue, saying the "unresolved dispute" is impacting achieving durable peace between India and Pakistan and remains a "blot on the conscience of humanity". Qureshi also said that if India ventures across the Line of Control, or acts upon its doctrine of "limited" war against Pakistan, "it will evoke a strong and matching response. ALSO READ: Pakistan's Qureshi raises Kashmir issue at UN, threatens use of nuclear weapons India’s befitting reply: After seeking right to reply, Indian diplomat Eenam Gambhir with a fact-check, challenged Qureshi's claim that Pakistan was making headway against terrorists. "Can Pakistan deny the fact that it is the host and patron of 132 of the UN designated terrorists and 22 terrorist entities sanctioned under the 1267 and 1988 UN Security Council sanctions regimes as of today?" she asked. Those Council resolutions known by their numbers impose sanctions on Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities. "Will Pakistan deny that the UN designated terrorist Hafez Saeed enjoys a free run inside Pakistan, spews venom and sets up candidates for electoral offices," she challenged Qureshi. Indian foreign minister Swaraj had earlier slammed Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorists in her speech and  said, "The demon of terrorism now stalks the world, at a faster pace somewhere, a slower pace elsewhere, but life-threatening everywhere." "In our case, terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the west," she added. "The killers of 9/11 met their fate; but the mastermind of 26/11 Hafiz Saeed still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity." She accused Pakistan of "duplicity" and "hypocrisy," citing the shelter it gave Osama bin Laden.   (With inputs from agencies)