Swaraj under fire over useless speech at UNGA

ISLAMABAD: Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, who delivered libeling address in the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) summit on behalf of her country a day earlier, is facing severe criticism back home by the political adversaries of the government and independent intellectuals due to lack of acumen and substance in the speech.

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The address of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the UNGA, the same day has been applauded by the public opinion back in Pakistan. Sushma, who got her kidneys transplanted last year, now has returned to New Delhi and has submitted report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about her “performance” at the United Nations.

Indian prime minster was also away for three countries visit and returned home on Sunday. The Indian minister for external affairs came down heavily on Pakistan on various flimsy counts in her furious speech.

Indian media reported that a day after Sushma Swaraj's speech at the UNGA, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday attacked her claiming that her address at the international platform failed to construct a positive and constructive image of India in the world.

"We get the sense that everything is about the political environment in India and this was a speech aimed at BJP voters and sending a message to them particularly on the subject of Pakistan rather than constructing a positive image of India in the world," Tharoor said.

Addressing the general debate of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, Swaraj listed various development programmes undertaken by the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, melding them with the United Nations sustainable development goals. He said that it’s high time that mouth of hate speakers must be shut. Tharoor said Sushma rather than projecting a positive image of India, spoke only on Pakistan to please the BJP voters. The Indian Union Minister had especially referred to Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. She was perturbed about the freedom of movement to the Hafiz.

Shashi Tharoor maintained that Sushma’s speech in the UN aimed at BJP voters, not to improve India’s image. "We get the sense that everything is about the political environment in India and this was a speech aimed at BJP voters and sending a message to them particularly on subject of Pakistan rather than constructing a positive and constructive image of India in the world." The lone voice came in favour of Sushma speech was from her cabinet colleague Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who tweeted in support of Sushma Swaraj. A right wing so-called Indian intellectual Subramanian Swamy has said that holding meeting with Pakistan is waste of time. Shashi Tharoor should stay in Pakistan.