PM Modi at UN: PM Narendra Modi spoke at the UN (AFP)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the UN General Assembly on Friday, stressed that the international community needs to unite against terror and work on consensus on fighting terrorism, which, he said, is among the biggest challenges not for any single country but for the entire world. "We believe that terrorism is not a challenge for any one country but for all countries and for humanity. For the sake of humanity, the world has to unite against terror," PM Modi said in his address.
Without naming Pakistan, PM Modi said there needed to be more anger globally about what terrorism was doing to humanity. "We belong to a country that has given the world Buddh (Buddha's message of peace), not 'Yuddh' (war). When we raise our voice against terror, it is with seriousness and anger," said the Prime Minister in a 20-minute speech in Hindi, in which he also spoke about India's fight against global warming and its development initiatives.
This was his third address to the General Debate at the UN, five years after his maiden speech as Prime Minister in 2014.
"The lack of unanimity amongst us on the issue of terrorism dents those very principles that are the basis for the creation of the UN," PM Modi remarked.
"Swami Vivekananada had given the message of harmony and peace to the Parliament of Religions, and not dissension. The world's biggest democracy still has the same message for the world -- harmony and peace," he said.
During his week-long US visit, the Prime Minister has, without once making a direct reference to Pakistan, made it clear that the country is the epicenter of terror and needs to act against terrorists operating from its soil.
At the mega "Howdy, Modi!" event last Sunday, sharing a stage with US President Donald Trump, the Prime Minister said: "They have made hatred towards India the centre of their agenda. They support terror, they harbour terrorists. Whether it is 9/11 in America or 26/11 in Mumbai, where are its conspirators found? Not just you, the whole world knows who these people are."
On Thursday, the US said any easing of tensions between India and Pakistan is contingent on Islamabad taking action against those who engaged in cross-border infiltration.
"I think what we would like to see are the conditions whereby India and Pakistan can have a constructive conversation that leads to an improvement of relations between the two nuclear powers," said Alice Wells, US Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia.
"And obviously, that is going to hinge off of counterterrorism, off of Pakistan's seriousness of effort in ensuring that groups don't take advantage and engage in cross-border infiltration, that there are serious steps to implement the Financial Action Task Force action plan that Pakistan has committed to, and which includes the prosecution of UN-designated terrorists. So whether it's Hafiz Saeed who currently is in custody and under prosecution, but also leaders of Jaish-e-Mohammed, like Masood Azhar, who long have been able to exploit their presence on Pakistani soil," she said.