While Swaraj started off on a rather positive note, highlighting India’s exceptional achievements in the fields of education, public hygiene, and economic and social development and climate change combat, she soon went on to address the issue of terrorism – the one global threat against which the world must unite.
While on the subject she also quickly moved on to Pakistan, insinuating that it was one of the countries where terrorists roamed freely and launched their violent ideologies from. Making references to all the efforts India has taken to restore peace in the subcontinent, she shredded Pakistan's accusations of human rights violations. She also touched upon Pakistan's unceasing cross-border terrorist attacks and ambitions to seize Kashmir. Swaraj raised an important question - who sponsors terrorists?
Urging the assembly to adopt the CCIT proposed by India in 1996 and to unite in an effort to combat the "scourge" of terrorism, Swaraj took the opportunity to seek an urgent expansion of the UN Security Council and make it a more inclusive and relevant platform.
Quotes from MEA Sushma Swaraj’s Speech at the UNGA
- There are enough resources on this planet to fulfill everyone's needs, but not enough to fulfill anyone's greed.
- Terrorism is undoubtedly the biggest violation of human rights. It targets the innocent and kills indiscriminately…it is a crime against humanity itself.
- If we want to defeat terrorism, there is only one way – that we unite across our differences, add steel to our resolve and inject urgency in our response.
- In our midst, there are nations that still speak the language of terrorism, that nurture it, peddle it, and export it. To shelter terrorists has become their calling card. We must identify these nations and hold them to account.
- The Prime Minister of Pakistan used this podium to make baseless allegations about human rights violations in my country. I can only say that those accusing others of human rights violations would do well to introspect and see what egregious abuses they are perpetrating in their own country, including in Balochistan.
- It (Pakistan) persists in the belief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets. My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream. Let me state unequivocally that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.
- We took the initiative to resolve issues not on the basis of conditions, but on the basis of friendship...And what did we get in return? Pathankot, Bahadur Ali, and Uri?
- We need a more contemporary approach to combating terrorism; we also need a less outdated Security Council that continues to reflect the world order of an earlier era.
- The 21st century has begun in the shadow of turmoil, but we can turn this into a golden age in the history of civilization through united and concerted efforts. But what happens tomorrow will depend on what we do today.
