75th United Nations General Assembly Fourth Committee General Debate 

15 October 2020

Right of Reply 

Mr Chair, 

I am taking the the floor to exercise my delegation’s right of reply to the statement delivered earlier in the general debate by the representative of Pakistan. 

With yet another statement devoted almost entirely to repeating the same blatant falsehoods and irrelevant issues, one is left wondering whether this delegation has anything positive or constructive at all to contribute to the work of this organisation. 

Mr Chair, 

As a globally recognised hub for terrorism, Pakistan is the biggest destabilizing force in the world. Their representatives here pay hypocritical lip service to the UN Secretary General's call for ceasefire, while their government back home violates it with impunity - sponsoring cross-border terrorism and glorifying terrorists like Osama Bin Laden as ‘martyrs’. Even within its country, it is unleashing sectarian violence against against Muslims and minorities. 

We completely reject the malicious references made to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. 

Pakistan’s baseless allegations regarding matters internal to India are completely out of order and do not merit a response. Suffice to say, that residents of Jammu and Kashmir now enjoy in full, the freedoms and fundamental rights that all Indian citizens enjoy. This is much more than can be said of Pakistan's own beleaguered minorities. 

Mr Chair, 

The delegation of Pakistan needs to be reminded once again of what the UN has clearly established: that the principle of self-determination is a vehicle for the worthy cause of decolonisation of the seventeen Non Self-Governing Territories on the agenda of this Committee, and not a justification for undermining the territorial integrity of any Member State. No amount of desperate propaganda will change this. 

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