" We are now refusing to play cricket with another country ": Former Diplomat Akbaruddin
Johannesburg [South Africa], May 28 (ANI): Syed Akbaruddin, India's former permanent representative to the UN, has termed the Pahalgam terror attack an attempt to undermine India's social cohesion and economic momentum. He was interacting with the Indian Diaspora here on Tuesday as part of the multi-party delegation led by the NCP(SCP) MP Supriya Sule.
'Cricket is a passion for all of us. The only country before now that we refused to play was apartheid South Africa. I am raising this because we are now refusing to play cricket with another country. You need to understand the depth of our engagement and our revulsion at why we do this,' Akbaruddin said.
'Yes, this terrorist act led to a loss of a large number of lives, but it was much more. We see this as an act of undermining our social cohesion. We are a pluralistic country with diversity as our signature, yet we saw an attempt to undermine that social cohesion. More importantly, we see this as an attempt to undermine our economic momentum,' he added.
He also highlighted how large the Indian economy is in comparison with that of Pakistan.
'India and Pakistan both started together as Midnight's Children. Our economy is about ten times or more than their economy. The economy of Maharashtra is perhaps larger than the economy of Pakistan,' says former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin,' he said.
NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule said at the event that the terror attack in Pahalgam has deeply hurt every Indian around the world.
Sule said that Prime Minister Modi extended a hand of friendship to neighbouring countries in 2014 when he took oath as Prime Minister, but the recent attack has shown that peace efforts have not been respected.
'When PM Modi took oath in 2014, he invited every neighbour to his oath ceremony to send a message that we wanted the subcontinent to be peaceful and happy and to grow together. But, unfortunately, with the Pahalgam incident, it has not happened. This incident has shaken every Indian everywhere in the world. I am happy South Africa has stood by India,' Sule added.
Sule stated that it's PM Modi's wish that Operation Sindoor must reach the global stage to show that India will not tolerate terrorism and will always stand for peace without sacrificing innocent lives.
The members of the delegation are Members of Parliament Supriya Sule, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, Manish Tewari, Anurag Singh Thakur, Lavu Sri Krishna devarayalu, Anand Sharma, former Minister of Commerce & Industry, V Muraleedharan, Former Minister of State for External Affairs, and Syed Akbaruddin, Former Permanent. Representative of India to the UN.
On Wednesday, the delegation will visit Cape Town for meetings in the South African Parliament and with South Africa's Ministers of Government. (ANI)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
24 minutes ago
- Hans India
EAM Jaishankar gives firsthand account to refute Trump's claims on ceasefire
New York: With his firsthand account of the talks between New Delhi and Washington, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has dismissed the claims of US President Donald Trump that he used trade to force India and Pakistan to accept a ceasefire. He said on Monday that he was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when US Vice President J.D. Vance spoke to him by phone, and there was no linking of trade and ceasefire as far as India was concerned. "I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India," he said. "We did not accept certain things," he said, "and the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do." "On the contrary, he (PM Modi) indicated that there would be a response from us," he said, giving the chronology of interactions. "The Pakistanis did attack us massively that night, (and) we responded very quickly," he recalled. The next contact with Washington was between the EAM and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "And the next morning, Mr. Rubio called me up and said the Pakistanis were ready to talk," he said. Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, directly called his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, that afternoon to ask for a ceasefire. "So, I can only tell you from my personal experience what happened," Jaishankar said while speaking at a fireside chat here with Newsweek's CEO Dev Pragad. He was asked about Trump's repeated claims that he used trade to get the neighbours to agree to a ceasefire after the escalation of India's Operation Sindoor in May. Last Wednesday, at a news conference in The Hague, Trump said again, despite India's denials, "I ended that with a series of phone calls on trade." "I said, 'Look, if you're gonna go fighting each other ... we're not doing any trade deal,'" he said. They responded that "You have to do a trade deal," the US President asserted. Jaishankar said that was not what happened, and diplomacy and trade were not interlinked and operated independently of each other. "I think the trade people are doing what the trade people should be doing, which is negotiate with numbers and lines and products and do their tradeoffs," he said. "I think they're very professional and very, very focused," he added. Operation Sindoor was launched by India against terrorist bases in Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terrorist attack by The Resistance Front, an outfit linked to Pakistan-supported Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
'When Terrorism Is Supported By...': Jaishankar Blasts Pak at UN, Says Won't Bow to Nuke Blackmail
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has issued a stern warning against state-sponsored terrorism in a clear reference to Pakistan. Just a day before Islamabad takes over the UNSC presidency for July, Jaishankar inaugurated a gripping exhibition titled The Human Cost of Terrorism, showcasing the horrors of attacks from 1993 Mumbai to Pahalgam 2024. With UN envoys and diplomats watching, Jaishankar called for global unity and zero tolerance on terror condemning bigotry, extremism, and nuclear blackmail. As the world grapples with growing threats, India makes its case for truth, justice, and accountability, loud and clear at the UN.#jaishankar #pakistanterror #unsc #terrorismexhibition #indiavspakistan #pahalgamattack #unitednations #crossborderterror #indiadiplomacy #modiforeignpolicy #toi #toibharat #bharat #breakingnews #indianews
Time of India
33 minutes ago
- Time of India
"Devendra Fadnavis' government hit a sixer and cancelled the decision": Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Maharashtra three-language policy
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Union Minister Ramdas Athawale welcomed the Maharashtra government's decision to withdraw the three-language policy and said that the Devendra Fadnavis government cancelled the policy even before agitations took to the reporters on his visit to Raipur on Tuesday, Athawale said, "There was a controversy in Maharashtra regarding the three-language formula. Hindi has always been our national language , and we respect it, but some people argued that there is no need to teach any other language in Marathi schools. Marathi people took an opposing stance. However, Devendra Fadnavis' government hit a sixer and cancelled the decision to (mandatorily) use the Hindi language even before any agitation took place."RPI chief Athawale's remarks come amid Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ' announcement to withdraw the resolution on the three-language policy on June Maharashtra government came under fire on April 16, as it passed a resolution mandating Hindi as the compulsory third language in Marathi and English-medium in response to the backlash, the government revised the policy on June 17 through an amended resolution, stating, "Hindi will be the third language. For those who want to learn another language, at least 20 willing students are required."On June 24, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated that the final decision regarding the three-language formula will be taken only after discussions with litterateurs, language experts, political leaders, and all other concerned parties, which has now led to the cancellation of both the resolutions and the formation of a committee under Narendra asked about the Centre's decision to conduct a caste-based census , Athawale criticised Congress for not conducting one during their Athawale said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government have decided on the caste census, and this is a historic decision, as for many years it was demanded but was not conducted during Congress' rule. Rahul Gandhi was demanding it, but why did he not do it when his government was in power?""The Parliamentary committee will begin its work. The percentage of each caste will be known. We will get to know, after the independence, how much a caste has developed in terms of employment, and (participation in) agriculture and industries. And this will help the government to support the (backward) castes," he told the reporters.
