ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Tuesday that India’s claim of acting as a responsible country was a hypocrite’s masquerade of virtue.

“It is highly hypocritical of a country that has systematically done away with any semblance of moderation, efforts for dialogue and abiding by international law, to project itself as the voice of these three,” FO spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said.

He made these remarks in response to Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s remarks that India would act as voice of moderation, advocate of dialogue and proponent of international law during its one-month term as the president of the United Nations Security Council.

India, which is currently a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year term, started as the president of the powerful 15-nation body for the month of August on Sunday.

Delhi urged to put its house in order before making such claims

The presidency of the UNSC rotates on a monthly basis following English alphabetical order of the names of the member states. India, which entered the UNSC on Jan 1, 2021, will twice get the presidency during its term ending on Dec 31, 2022.

Mr Chaudhri said extremist ‘Hindutva’ ideology had permeated all the state institutions of India, and RSS-BJP regime’s record was replete with instances of gross and systematic violations of rights of minorities, particularly Muslims. Therefore, it must set its own house in order before preaching moderation to the world.

He recalled how Indian government had been blocking the start of a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan for normalisation of the strained ties.

He recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had after assuming office stated that if India would take one step for peace, Pakistan would take two. “However, rather than engaging in dialogue, India vitiated the environment through its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019. It is India, which has to create the enabling environment for a meaningful dialogue that promotes peace and precludes the occurrences leading to conflict in the region,” he maintained.

The spokesman also referred to violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions by India for more than seven decades. “The series of Indian illegal and unilateral actions since 5 August 2019 are also in blatant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, UNSC resolutions and the fourth Geneva Convention,” he added.

Mr Chaudhri asked India to abide by the principles of moderation, adherence to international law and engaging in dialogue before projecting itself as their champion.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2021