KARACHI: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Friday debunked his Indian counterpart Jaishankar’s remarks about Pakistan, saying that India looked “insecure” due to its false narrative, propaganda and blatant lies.
“I understand there is an insecurity behind this criticism. The reason for this insecurity is that a false narrative, propaganda and lie is being spread in India, particularly by the BJP. By going there and speaking and presenting our stance, we break that myth and propaganda,” Bilawal told a press conference upon return from his India trip where he spoke at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) moot earlier in the day.
“They try to give the impression that every Muslim is a terrorist so that hatred spreads there (India) and they could win elections. They try to prove that every Pakistani is a terrorist, but when Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari sits before them, their false narrative and propaganda are negated even if I say nothing,” he added.
Bilawal said the narrative that terrorism was linked to Muslims had become “stale” across the world and Pakistan’s sacrifices in the fight against terrorism were acknowledged by the world.
Bilawal went on to say that another “lie” that India was trying to spread was that the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions, international laws and bilateral agreements held no importance, adding that Pakistan’s representatives continued to counter India’s narrative on Kashmir.
He said that what frustrated India was the refusal of Pakistanis and Kashmiris to accept the Indian government’s actions of August 5, 2019, when it revoked occupied Kashmir’s special status, adding that the development had instead given “new life” to the Kashmir cause.
“As Pakistan’s representatives, we talk on terrorism and Kashmir, counter their (India) propaganda and one-sided message so that is why maybe the Indian FM seemed so emotional to you in his press conference,” FM Bilawal said.
He hailed on Friday his trip to India as a “success”, saying that the “false propaganda” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that every Muslim was a terrorist had been negated.
Bilawal said: “The BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (a Hindu nationalist group in India) have been trying to create this myth — they declare Muslims across the world terrorists, they declare Pakistanis terrorists.
“We made an attempt at breaking this myth … I believe that when the son of Shaheed Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto’s son sits before them, no matter how much they try to level such allegations, this is a reply enough for them.”
The foreign minister said his party, the PPP, forwarded Hindi candidates for provincial and federal legislatures who went on to become ministers, adding that he was “surprised” to learn that the Bharatiya Janata Party had no Muslim candidate despite India having one of the biggest Muslim population in the world.
Bilawal was also asked about Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar’s comments about him, where the dignitary from New Delhi reacted to the PPP chairperson urging SCO members to refrain from “weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point-scoring”.
Jaishankar said Bilawal’s address “reveals the mindset of that country. His position was found out and called out.”
