"Where Were 9/11, 26/11 Plotters Found?": PM Slams Pak, Trump In Audience

Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- in front of a battery of US leaders including President Donald Trump -- on Sunday asserted that the government's move to "bid farewell to Article 370" was one to end discrimination, and through it, terrorism.  "The time has come for a decisive fight against terrorism and those who support terrorism," the Prime Minister said, and in a tacit warning to Pakistan, reminded that in the war against terror, the US stands at India's side.

The Prime Minister shared stage on Sunday with the US President at the mega public meeting at Houston, where he counted the move in Jammu and Kashmir as one of the achievements of his government within its first 100 days. The matter had resonance in the US, with President Trump twice offering to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad.

New Delhi, however, had given a firm no with a reminder that Kashmir was a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and the current changes were a move to bring development to the state where terrorism had flourished.

Launching into a scathing condemnation of Pakistan -- which has been flagging Kashmir in various international forums, including the United Nations - PM Modi said, "What India is doing has troubled some people who can't even manage their own country".

Without naming Pakistan, he said, they have "made hatred towards India the centre of their agenda. They support terror, they harbor terrorists".  But he left no one in doubt. "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," he added.

Osama Bin Laden, the perpetrator of the horrific 9/11 attacks in the US, was killed in 2011 by US forces at his hideout in Pakistan's Abbottabad after a decade-long manhunt. The 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were planned and executed by terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e Taiba.

On the last day of his visit, the Prime Minister is expected to address the UN General Assembly on September 27. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is also expected to speak at the meet and raise the government's move in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I want to stress here that here President Trump is standing firmly against this. I want you to give a standing ovation to his resolve as well," added the Prime Minister.

In his address, President Trump had vowed to protect innocent civilians from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.

"India and the US also understand that to keep our community safe, we must protect our borders. Border security is vital to the United States. Border Security is vital to India. And we understand that," President Trump said as PM Modi was seen applauding.