India vexed by Nawaz hailing of Wani

Glorifying Burhan Wani in UN shows Pakistan’s ‘continued attachment to terrorism, says Vikas Swarup

India poured venom on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday over his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in which he not only condemned the Indian crackdown on recent protests in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK), but also hailed separatist leader Burhan Wani.

Addressing the media, India’s junior foreign minister MJ Akbar said, “It is shocking that a leader of a free nation can glorify a self-declared terrorist (Burhan Wani). This is self-incrimination by Pakistan.”



Responding to prime minister’s statement that Pakistan had “gone the extra mile and repeatedly offered dialogue”, Akbar said, “We haven’t seen the first mile, where is the question of the extra mile?” Pakistan, he added, wants dialogue while “holding a gun in its hand”. “Talks and guns don’t go together.”

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup also tweeted that glorifying Burhan Wani in the UN showed Pakistan’s ‘continued attachment to terrorism’.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2016.