The caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar’s address at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly

Urging the chair, Kakar emphasized that “Mr. President, we must counter all terrorists without discrimination including the rising threat by far-right and fascist groups such as Hindutva-inspired extremists threatening genocide against India’s Muslims and Christians alike.”
He also urged opposition against the root causes of terrorism which according to him included poverty, injustice, foreign occupation and distinguishing genuine freedom struggles from terrorism.
“Pakistan proposes the creation of a committee of the general assembly to oversee the balanced implementation of all four pillars of the global counter-terrorism strategy.”
Earlier the PM Kakar had also warned that the “disgusting reality behind Hindu nationalism politics could ensnare the world in “fires of war”.
His comments come amid the backdrop of an unprecedented flareup of tensions between India and Canada where the latter has accused the former of killing a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil.
During an interview on the sidelines of UNGA, PM Kakar said: “We will raise [the issue] at different forums, not because we want to do any propaganda against India, but because of the disgusting reality hidden behind Hindutva’s political agenda in which fascism and chauvinism are very deeply rooted, it is such a dangerous phenomenon that it can ensnare the whole region and the rest of the world in the fires of war.”
He went on to say, “We will continue playing our role in highlighting that major issue … we will talk about it wherever we get the opportunity.”
The premier said Hindutva politics had affected the region, particularly Balochistan, adding that Pakistan had evidence to support its claims, which included the confession of high-ranking Indian military officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.
“We have been suffering this face and side of India but the problem is that this is hitting Western capitals now,” PM Kakar said.
Pakistan would not mock Western countries for not paying heed to the warnings but would instead play a role in ensuring that the danger [of Hindutva] was understood and action was taken to stop it.
The prime minister said the slain Sikh separatist leader was “innocent” and a “martyr”, adding that the murder of an innocent person was a “major crime”.
At the outset of his UNGA address, the premier said world leaders had gathered today at a “tense and pivotal moment in history”, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions between other global powers.
“We see the rise of old and new military and political blocs … geopolitics is resurging when geoeconomics should have primacy.”
He emphasized that the world could not afford another cold war as there were far greater challenges confronting humans that demanded global cooperation and collective action.
Many countries of the global south have barely managed to stave off defaults, poverty and hunger have grown, reversing development gains of three decades.
The premier lamented that last year’s “epic floods” had submerged one-third of the country, killed 1,700 people, displaced over eight million people, destroyed vital infrastructure, destroyed vital infrastructure and caused over $30 billion in damage to the economy.
Regarding Kashmir issue, the premier stressed that Pakistan desired peaceful relations with all the countries, including India, but at the same time highlighted that the Kashmir issue was key to peace between the two South Asian nations.
Acknowledging that the Kashmir dispute was among the oldest issues on the UNSC agenda, he noted that India had evaded implementation of UN resolutions that call for the final disposition of the region through a plebiscite.
PM Kakar recalled that since August 2019, India had deployed 900,000 forces in occupied Kashmir, imposed lockdowns and curfews, jailed hundreds of leaders, resorted to extrajudicial killings and destroyed entire villages.
The UNSC must secure implementation of its resolution on Kashmir, the UN military observer group should be reinforced and global powers should convince New Delhi to accept Pakistan’s offer for mutual restraint on strategic and conventional routes, as the PM rightly emphasized.