Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar’s address at the 79th UN General Assembly session was disappointing and disquieting, to put it mildly. He was long on rhetoric but conspicuously short on substance. Not only was the speech riven with policy contradictions but also unabashedly threatening towards Pakistan. The international community must take strong exception to his minatory remarks before India, in its fatalistic hubris, pushes South Asia to the edge of a precipice.

As the US and other Western countries are pandering to India in the backdrop of global geostrategic and geoeconomic considerations, India is increasingly seeing itself as a country which believes it has the carte blanche to say and do anything with impunity. It is fast becoming a rogue state internally and externally.

India is increasingly seeing itself as a country which it believes has the carte blanche to say and do anything with impunity.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his UN General Assembly address rightly highlighted the Islamophobia being stoked by the “Hindutva” regime to ostracize close to 200 million strong Muslim population in India. The Indian Muslims are being mob lynched and more and more mosques are being made controversial, preparing false grounds for their demolition, as the world witnessed the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.

At the same time, Christians and their churches are also under attack. In the state of Manipur, hundreds of Christians belonging to the Kuki and other tribes have been killed by Hindu extremists and, according to some Indian media reports, over 300 churches have been desecrated or razed to the ground. The continuing violence has forced thousands of Christian families to leave their homes. Yet the BJP governments in Imphal (the capital city of Manipur) and New Delhi do not seem to be interested in bringing about normalcy at the cost of alienating “Hindutva” votaries. All these and many other internal contradictions belie Jaishankar’s claim that India is a democratic country where all is working well. In short, India is beyond anyone’s criticism.

The Indian Muslims are being mob lynched and more and more mosques are being made controversial, preparing false grounds for their demolition.

Jaishankar also talked about “cross-border terrorism” and tried to name and shame Pakistan. May I remind him that it is India which has been abetting and funding “cross-border terrorism” in Pakistan? India’s objectives are clear. One, to keep Pakistan politically and economically unstable with an aim to building pressure on Pakistan on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Two, subvert the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and drive wedges between the two counties. Over the last 10 years, Pakistan has prepared several dossiers containing irrefutable proof of India’s active complicity in many terror attacks in Pakistan.

In fact, there is no dearth of evidence. Even Canada and the US have confronted India with undeniable evidence of the involvement of Indian intelligence officers planning murder of Sikhs abroad who are actively pursuing the cause of “Khalistan”.  Many believe that India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is the mastermind. Hence, it is least surprising that a court in New York has recently issued a notice summoning him to clarify his position in the attempted murder case of a Canadian-US national, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is the co-founder of “Sikhs for Justice” organization.

Even Canada and the US have confronted India with undeniable evidence of the involvement of Indian intelligence officers planning murder of Sikhs abroad.

India’s chutzpah is unbeatable. Rather than giving Kashmiris their inalienable right to self-determination, Jaishankar abused the UN General Assembly podium to state that the Kashmir dispute was now left only in the context of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Thus, he was implying that the question of the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir had been settled once and for all with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019.

One should remind him that no matter what India does or say, political aspirations of Kashmiris could not be wished away. There are several UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir and New Delhi had committed to hold a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir to determine whether Kashmiris would like to join India or Pakistan. By effecting illegal constitutional amendments, India is only hoodwinking itself. Kashmiris would never ever settle for less than self-determination.

New Delhi also does not get tired of parroting the claim that Kashmiris are happy with India and even the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir would prefer to be with India than Pakistan. If that is indeed the case then what stops India from holding a plebiscite. Why then fight wars over Kashmir. India could get all of Kashmir by letting Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination. Since India is well aware of the ground realities and what most Kashmiris think, it sees no other option but to palter.

By effecting illegal constitutional amendments, India is only hoodwinking itself. Kashmiris would never ever settle for less than self-determination.

Jaishankar also dwelt upon reforming the UN Security Council. To be fair, most leaders bemoaned the fact that the UN Security Council has miserably failed in keeping peace and security around the world. The veto power given to P-5 countries under the UN Charter is now being seen as the major impediment to preventing conflicts and achieving peace in turbulent regions including the ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon. India strongly feels it also deserves a permanent seat at the high table.

India’s claim can be somewhat justified given the fact that it is now world’s largest country in terms of population. Its economy is also doing fairly better than many other developing countries. Nevertheless, it is also the largest importer of arms from Western countries as well as Russia. At the same time, it is working on developing a highly dangerous Cold Start doctrine that envisages a limited war in a nuclear environment.

Keeping all the foregoing in view, can India add value to the Security Council? In my well-considered view, a country that itself is in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and takes dubious positions on critical peace and security issues, will add more problems to its working as a permanent member. What India needs is some soul-searching. A country that finds itself alienated in its own region and has disputes with almost all its neighbors will hardly be able to contribute anything positive but to torque up negativity.

“Incredible India” is no doubt a good tagline for promoting tourism. But Jaishankar in his address ended up exposing India’s arrogance and jingoistic tendencies. It is a bully in South Asia a la Israel in the Middle East. I hope the international community is not that credulous to fall for India’s duplicity and self-serving narratives.