UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27 � Rebuffing Pakistan for raising the Kashmir issue at the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted today that he was prepared to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with it �without the shadow of terrorism� but asked it to create an �appropriate environment� for that, reports PTI.
Without making a direct reference to the strident speech of his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif here yesterday in which he had insisted on a plebiscite in Kashmir, Modi made it clear that �raising issues in this forum is not the way to make progress towards resolving issues between our two countries�.
In his maiden address to the 193-member UN General Assembly, the Indian leader underlined that his government placed the highest priority on advancing friendship and cooperation with its neighbours, including Pakistan.
Speaking in Hindi, Modi said, �I am prepared to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan in a peaceful atmosphere, without the shadow of terrorism, to promote our friendship and cooperation. However, Pakistan must also take its responsibility seriously to create an appropriate environment.�
Modi�s 35-minute address covered a number of subjects such as terrorism, including its resurgence in West Asia, reforms of the United Nations, including the Security Council, and the need for a more inclusive global development.
Talking about India�s neighbourhood, the Prime Minister said that India desired a peaceful and stable environment for its development. �A nation�s destiny is linked to its neighbourhood. That is why my government has placed the highest priority on advancing friendship and cooperation with her neighbours.�
He told Pakistan that instead of raising issues at the UN, �today we should be thinking about the victims of floods in Jammu and Kashmir. In India, we have organised massive flood relief operations and have also offered assistance for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir�.
�India is part of the developing world, but we are prepared to share our modest resources with those countries that need this assistance as much as we do,� he said.
Describing the present as �a time of great flux and change�, Modi said the world was witnessing tensions and turmoil on a scale rarely seen in recent history. Although there were no major wars �there is absence of real peace and uncertainty about the future�.
He referred to the Asia-Pacific region and said that it was �still concerned about maritime security that is fundamental to its future.�
While �extremism and fault lines� were growing in West Asia, Modi said, �our own region continues to face the destabilising threat of terrorism�.
Modi also met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today, during which he referred to raising of the Kashmir issue by Sharif, while implying that the global body was not the right forum to discuss it.
