After India criticised Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for his “uncivilised outburst” towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN Security Council last week, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Shazia Marri threatened New Delhi with nuclear war .
Spewing venom against India during her press conference in support of Bilawal Bhutto, Marri said, “India should not forget that Pakistan has an atom bomb. Our nuclear status is not meant to remain silent. We will not back down if the need arises.”
Shazia threatened India saying that if the Modi government continues to attack Pakistan then the prime minister will get what he deserves. “Pakistan has not been given the status of a nuclear state in silence. Pakistan also knows how to answer,” she said. “If you will keep making allegations against Pakistan again and again, Pakistan cannot keep listening silently. This will not happen,” she added.
Marri’s statement comes at a time when Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto is already under fire in India for making unfounded allegations on PM Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
At a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council session in New York, Bilawal Bhutto claimed that the government of India was influenced by German dictator Adolf Hitler and not Mahatma Gandhi.
In response to media inquiries regarding Bilawal’s ‘uncivilised’ remarks, Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. Pakistan’s foreign minister’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their state policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah.”
Earlier last week, on Thursday, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had criticised Pakistan for its involvement in financing and propagating terrorism, advising Islamabad to clean up its behaviour and strive to be a decent neighbour. Dr Jaishankar responded to a query from a Pakistani journalist who accused India of promoting terror, saying, “When you ask how long we will continue this, you are asking the wrong minister. Pakistan’s ministers will choose how long the country will engage in terrorism.”
A slew of Indian lawmakers condemned Bilawal’s accusations on PM Modi. “As far as PM Modi’s leadership is concerned, the world has recognised that leadership,” stated Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs. “PM Modi has helped not only India but also other countries, including Pakistan, during COVID. If a foreign minister of a country is making such a statement, it doesn’t hold him well,” added Lekhi.
Noteworthy, Pakistan has been placed on the Financial Action Task Force‘s grey list multiple times for harbouring terrorism. “The statement of the foreign minister of Pakistan is very shameful and it is an attempt to replicate the way in which the Pakistan Army was defeated by the Indian Army on this day in 1971. Maybe he is still in pain,” said Union minister Anurag Thakur on Vijay Diwas last week.
“The world has seen Pakistan’s actions and intentions. They have been giving shelter to terrorists for a long time. PM Modi has taken strict actions against terrorism. The US killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and India did a surgical strike in Pakistan,” he added.
Meanwhile, party workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conducted countrywide protests against Bilawal Bhutto on Saturday, for his statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and burned his effigies across India.
“India is not a nation that will back away from anyone’s threats. India has the capacity to deal with all these threats. No one should have any doubts about that,” said Union minister V Muraleedharan, on Sunday.
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