Modi threatens to 'isolate' Pakistan globally

The sacrifices of 18 soldiers will not go in vain and we will defeat terror, says Indian PM

Days after a militant attack on a military base in occupied Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at Pakistan, threatening to isolate it in the world.

"India has succeeded in isolating you [Pakistan] in the world. We will ramp it up and force you [to] live alone in the world," he said while addressing a public meeting in the South Indian state of Kerala on Saturday.

On September 18, 18 Indian military personnel were killed when four commando-style gunmen burst into the brigade headquarters near the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector.

The assault was among the deadliest in held Kashmir and had sharply ratcheted up tension between the two nuclear-armed rivals.



"Leaders of Pakistan hear this. The sacrifice of 18 of our soldiers will not go in vain," Modi said, adding, "The neighbouring country succeeded in one attack and 17 soldiers had to fall prey."

He claimed it was 17 times in the last few months that terrorists in groups of 4 or 6 had tried crossing over the border to spread destruction. "India never has and never will bow down to terror, it will defeat terror."

Interestingly, Modi at the same time invited Pakistan to compete in eradicating poverty, unemployment, illiteracy. “I want to tell the people, if you have what it takes, lets compete to end poverty in our countries. "Youth of Pakistan, come let's fight. Let's see who ends unemployment first - India or Pakistan."



On Thursday, while addressing the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif highlighted the human rights violations being committed by the Modi government in held Kashmir and had demanded to send a fact-finding committee in the valley.

India, however, told the participants of the assembly that Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism from its soil, a charge the latter has denied on numerous occasions.

Pakistan and India have been at odds since July 8 when a populist Kashmiri rebel leader Burhan Muzaffar Wani was killed by Indian forces. At least 100 demonstrators have so far been killed due to Indian military’s indiscriminate use of force against Kashmiris.



The article originally appeared on NDTV