• Source:JND
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United Nations: Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has conceded that his country hasn't made headway in its Kashmir campaign at the United Nations and elsewhere in general. "As far as the hurdles we face within the UN and in general, as far as the Kashmir cause is concerned, that still exists," Bilawal, who is leading a delegation of Pakistani parliamentarians, said at a news conference here on Tuesday. He asserted that in his meetings with UN officials and diplomats, he found "receptiveness" on issues like terrorism and water, but it did not extend to Kashmir. He admitted the Pakistan delegation has failed to counter the Indian delegation that exposed Islamabad terror factory.

During his speech, he exposed Pakistan's terror module by saying India has targeted "religious places" during Operation Sindoor. Notably, India in a May 7 press conference, had clearly uttered that the Indian Armed Forces targeted the terrorist's hideouts, not the civilian infrastructure. Bhutto was pointing fingers at the attack on the so-called "mosque" in Bahawalpur, which India had already tagged as a terrorist safe haven.

Trump must be credited for ceasefire: Bhutto

Bhutto again claimed it was US President Donald Trump and his administration who took the ceasefire initiative-- a claim New Delhi rejected multiple times and pointed how Islamabad top generals desperately rushed to call their Indian counterparts for ceasefire.   

Bhutto rejected an attempt to equate Kashmir and Gaza

Bilawal, who is the Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, dismissed an attempt by a Palestinian journalist to equate Kashmir and Gaza, a familiar ploy that some Pakistanis have also used. "Let me emphasise from the outset, there is, there's no meaningful comparison that I can make between the plight of the Palestinians and the plight of Pakistan, the plight of Kashmir," he said. "What we're seeing in Gaza, what we're seeing in Palestine, is uniquely outrageous, inhumane and condemnable in all shapes, forms and terms," he added. But he went on to allege that India was drawing its inspiration from Israel and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to model himself on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but was nowhere near him.

Bhutto met UN Chief 

Bilawal's delegation was modelled by Islamabad after the all-party delegations India has been sending around the world to explain its policy of zero-tolerance for terrorism and Operation Sindoor that was launched against terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir after the massacre of 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. After arriving in New York on Monday, the Pakistani delegation met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, General Assembly President Philemon Yang, Security Council President Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and permanent representatives of the US, China, Russia, France to the UN, and the non-permanent members of the Council.

Indian delegation in US

They are due to be in Washington on Wednesday when the Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor will also be there. Shashi Tharror-led Indian delegation, which arrived in Washington late on Tuesday evening, would hold meetings till June 5 with several members of the US Congress and the Donald Trump administration, think tanks, media and policymakers to brief them on Operation Sindoor and India's zero-tolerance policy against terrorism.

Taking to social media platform X on Tuesday evening, the Indian Embassy in the US said: "An all-party delegation led by Shashi Tharoor arrives in Washington D.C. Over the next two days the delegation will be meeting members of the US Congress and administration, think tanks, media and policymakers to brief them on Operation Sindoor and India's strong stand against terrorism."

(With inputs from agencies)