PM praises Swaraj for UNGA address

New Delhi, Sep 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her speech at the UN General Assembly, saying she had made "firm, effective and fine articulation" of a range of issues.

"Congrats to EAM @SushmaSwaraj for a firm, effective & fine articulation of a wide range of global issues at UNGA," he tweeted shortly after Swaraj delivered the address. Swaraj, in a sharp rebuke to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's "tirade" on Kashmir, said those accusing others of rights violations must introspect.

She censured Pakistan for the first time at the UNGA for perpetrating the "worst form of state oppression" in Balochistan.

Taking a veiled dig at Pakistan, the External Affairs Minister said there are nations "in our midst" where UN designated terrorists roam freely and deliver "their poisonous sermons of hate with impunity", an apparent reference to Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

She also made a strong pitch for isolating such nations who speak the language of terrorism and for whom sheltering terrorists has become "their calling card".

PTI