India-Pak bitter face-off over Bilawal Bhutto’s Modi remarks

The India-Pakistan war of words at the United Nations over the issue of terrorism witnessed a massive showdown on Friday, with India lashing out at Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto's remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar accused Pakistan as the "epicentre of terrorism". 

After chairing a special meeting of the UN Security Council focused on a "global counter-terrorism approach", external affairs minister S Jaishankar told the media on Thursday that the world perceives Pakistan as the "epicentre of terrorism" as the country still shelters terror groups, reports Hindustan Times.

Jaishankar said those who hosted Osama bin Laden do not have the credentials to sermonise. "Nor can hosting Osama bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament serve as credentials to sermonise before this council," he said.

Calling Pakistan the epicentre of terrorism, Jaishankar said one cannot have snakes in the backyard and expect them only to bite the neighbours. 

Responding to his Indian counterpart, Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto had described Modi as the "butcher of Gujarat". "I would like to remind Mr Jaishankar that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the prime minister (of India)," Bilawal had said.

"He (Narendra Modi) was banned from entering this country (the United States). These are the prime minister and foreign minister of RSS, which draws inspiration from Hitler's SS," he added.

India strongly condemned Pakistan FM's remark and the BJP will hold a nationwide protest on Saturday against Bilawal Bhutto's comment, the party said, reports Hindustan Times. 

"Pakistan should not cast aspersions on India given its track record on the treatment of minority communities and on counter-terrorism," Jaishankar said. 

In a sharp response to Bhutto Zardari's remarks, India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the comments marked "a new low, even for Pakistan". Bhutto Zardari had "obviously forgotten" 16 December 1971, which marked the emergence of Bangladesh from erstwhile East Pakistan, and was a "direct result of the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus", he said.

"Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the treatment of its minorities. It certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India," Bagchi said.

Pointing to Pakistan's "indisputable role in sponsoring, harbouring and actively financing terrorist and terrorist organisations" remaining under the scanner, Bagchi said Bhutto Zardari's "uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan's increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies".

The Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan on Saturday rejected Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's statement, calling it a "reflection of India's growing frustration".

Retorting to the statement today, FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: "The Indian government has tried to hide behind subterfuge and canard to conceal the realities of the 2002 Gujarat massacre, reports DAWN.

"It is a shameful story of mass killings, lynching, rape and plunder. The fact of the matter is that the masterminds of the Gujarat massacre have escaped justice and now hold key government positions in India," she said in a statement

Jaishankar and Bhutto Zardari have taken potshots at each other several times this week while attending special events at the UN. Jaishankar was in New York to chair two high-level events focused on reformed multilateralism and counter-terrorism during India's presidency of the UN Security Council in December.

India-Pakistan ties are currently at their lowest point, and the two sides have not held any structured dialogue since the Mumbai attacks carried out by the LeT, reports Hindustan Times. 

India's scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 also sparked an angry response from Pakistan, which ended trade, downgraded diplomatic relations and decided not to post a high commissioner in New Delhi.