India hopes Pakistan will work for safe, secure South Asia and not resort to polemics

Taking a jibe at Pakistan, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin on Wednesday said he hoped the government under new Prime Minister Imran Khan instead of indulging in polemics work towards building a safe, stable, secure and developed South Asian region free from terror and violence.

Speaking at an event of open debate on Maintenance of International Peace and Security at the United Nations, Akbaruddin asserted that regurgitating a failed approach, which has long been rejected, is neither reflective of pacific intent nor a display of pacific content. He added that pacific settlement requires pacific intent in thinking and pacific content in action.

Confronting Pakistan's repeated references to the disputed territories, Akbaruddin said, "We hope the new government of Pakistan will, rather than indulge in polemics, work constructively to build a safe, stable, secure and developed the South Asian region, free of terror and violence. Regurgitating a failed approach, which has long been rejected, is neither reflective of pacific intent nor a display of pacific content. We remind Pakistan, the one isolated delegation that made unwarranted references to an integral part of India, that pacific settlement requires pacific intent in thinking & pacific content in action."

On the issue of "pacific settlement of disputes", Akbaruddin said that it can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms, as the UN Charter itself recognises. Hinting towards the disputes between India and Pakistan, he reiterated that "instead of putting the UN at the centre of mediation efforts and exhorting States to support them, the international community should lend encouragement to those most motivated and having the capacity to do so to settle these, as appropriate". He further added, "Today, there are numerous actors and many
forms of pacific settlement that may be better suited to address different issues."