Bin Laden Glorified As Martyr in Pak: Sneha Dubey's UNGA Speech Draws Applause

India's statement comes after the Pakistan PM raised the issue of Kashmir and the death Syed Shah Geelani at the UN.

India's first secretary Sneha Dubey at the United Nations General Assembly.

(Photo: File)

,Delivering a sharp retort to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, on 25 September, at the United Nations General Assembly, India's First Secretary, Sneha Dubey said, "We exercise our Right of Reply to one more attempt by the leader of Pakistan to tarnish the image of this august Forum by bringing in matters internal to my country, and going so far as to spew falsehoods on the world stage."

“Pakistan holds the ignoble record of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the UNSC (United Nations Security Council). Osama Bin Laden got shelter in Pakistan. Even today, Pakistan leadership glorifies him as a martyr," she said at the UNGA while slamming Khan.

Dubey further went on to say that Pakistan was an "arsonist” disguising itself as a “firefighter” as most of the world had suffered due to its policies that nurture terrorists in its backyard.

Dubey is a 2012 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, with MA and MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was Under Secretary (T) Latin America and Caribbean in the Ministry of External Affairs from December 2013 to August 2014.

Her strongly worded rebuttals to Imran Khan drew a lot of applause on social media platforms.

During his address at the UNGA, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had brought up Kashmir and India's abrogation of Article 370. He'd also brought up the death of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

In response, Dubey said, "We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas (in J&K) under its illegal occupation."

“Regrettably, this is not the first time the leader of Pakistan has misused platforms provided by the UN to propagate false and malicious propaganda against my country, and seeking in vain to divert the world’s attention from the sad state of his country where terrorists enjoy free pass while the lives of ordinary people, especially those belonging to the minority communities, are turned upside down."

India's First Secretary, Sneha Dubey, at the UNGA

In the course of her address, India also reiterated that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India”, admonishing Pakistan for making repeated references to J&K in its address.

Dubey also emphasised India's position that it wanted friendly relations with all its neighbours, including Pakistan. However, she said that "it is for Islamabad to work sincerely towards creating a conducive atmosphere by taking credible, verifiable and irreversible actions to not allow any territory under its control to be used for cross-border terrorism against India in any manner".

She further spoke about the rights of minorities in Pakistan.

“This is a regime where anti-semitism is normalised by its leadership and even justified. Dissenting voices are muzzled daily, and enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings are well documented", Dubey said.

“Pluralism is a concept which is very difficult to understand for Pakistan which constitutionally prohibits its minorities from aspiring for high offices of the State. The least they could do is introspect before exposing themselves to ridicule on the world stage", she added.

India's statement comes as Prime Minister Modi visited the United States, holding meetings with US President Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, and other important political and business leaders.