Sushma Swaraj UN speech: Swaraj raised issues related the global fight against terrorism, climate change and the Security Council’s reform in her address to the United Nations General Assembly.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday blasted Pakistan for supporting and promoting terror-related activities from its soil. Swaraj raised issues related the global fight against terrorism, climate change and the Security Council’s reform in her address to the United Nations General Assembly. Saturday’s address was Swaraj’s second for at UNGA. The EAM delivered her speech in Hindi like the previous time. Swaraj, who arrived New York last Sunday, spent a major part of her day on Friday giving final touches to her speech, PTI reports. Here are the top 10 quotes from EAM’s visit:
1) Sushma Swaraj Highlight Pro-poor policies in India: She said that all of the economic programmes — Jan Dhan, Mudra, Ujjwala, Skill India, Digital India, Clean India, Start-Up India and Stand-Up India – have a principal purpose, the empowerment of the poor. “The Jan Dhan plan must surely count as the world’s largest financial inclusion scheme,” she said. “This was, understandably, not easy to complete in three years, but our banks, achieved this visionary goal set by our Prime Minister. While some remain to be included, the target has been set – every Indian family will have a bank account,” she said, adding that these accounts were opened with zero balance.
2) Demonetisation, GST: Sushma Swarj lauded the decisions of demonetisation and GST taken by the Union Government. “Demonetisation a courageous decision to challenge one of by-products of corruption – ‘black money’,” she said
3) Lambasting Pakistan: “We are completely engaged in fighting poverty; alas our neighbour Pakistan is engaged in fighting us. On Thursday, from this dais, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi wasted rather too much of his speech in making accusations against us. He accused India of State-sponsored terrorism, and of violating human rights. Those listening had only one observations: “Look who’s talking!” A country that has been the world’s greatest exporter of havoc, death and humanity became a champion of hypocrisy by preaching about humanity from his podium,” she said.
4) What has Pakistan created?: “India created IIM and IITs, but Pakistan, what have you made?” Swaraj said. She continued: “You have created Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Taiba.” She gets loud applaud as she ends her dialogue.
5) Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism: “If we cannot agree to define our enemy, how can we fight together?” Swaraj said urging the chair to adopt a definition of terrorism as soon as possible
6) Climate Change: Swaraj said that it was not just mere coincidence that the world has witnessed hurricanes, earthquakes, rains that inundate storms which terrify. “Nature sent its warning to the world even before the world’s leadership gathered in New York at the United Nations through Harvey,” she said, adding that once the gathering of world leaders at the UNGA began, an earthquake struck Mexico and a hurricane landed in Dominica. “We must understand, this requires more serious action than talk. The developed world must listen more carefully than others, because it has more capacities than others.”It must help the less fortunate through technology transfer and Green Climate Financing – that is the only way to save future generations,” Swaraj said.
7) Evil is Evil: “Let us accept that terrorism is an existential danger to mankind.Evil is Evil. There’s absolutely no justification for this barbaric violence,” she said.
8) Let’s introspect: “We must all introspect and ask ourselves whether our talk is anywhere close to the action we take. We all condemn this evil, and piously resolve to fight it in all our declaratory statements. The truth is that these have become rituals,” she said. “The fact is that when we are required to fight and destroy this enemy, the self-interest of some leads them towards duplicity,” Swaraj said.
9) Shaming Pak leaders: Swaraj asks Pakistani leaders to introspect as to why India is recognised as global IT superpower while Pakistan is infamous as “export factory for terror”.
10) Urging UN leaders: Swaraj called on the UN member states to display their new commitment by reaching agreement on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism this year itself.
