India 'mother of terrorism'

Pakistan accused India of adopting a posture of that of a "predator" and said if the international community wishes to avoid a dangerous escalation between the two neighbours, it must call on New Delhi to halt its provocations and aggressive actions.

Terming India as the "mother of terrorism" in South Asia, Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi accused it of sponsoring terrorism in various parts of her country.

Exercising her right to reply after Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday hit out at Pakistan for creating terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen and the Haqqani Network, Lodhi alleged that "in her vitriol she (Swaraj) deliberately ignored the core issue" of Kashmir. Swaraj in her remarks did not mention Kashmir.

"If the international community wishes to avoid a dangerous escalation between India and Pakistan, it must call on India to halt its provocations and aggressive actions. It must end the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control. It must halt its sponsorship of terrorist groups against Pakistan," Lodhi said.

Given that such responses are normally given by a low level foreign service official, it was quite significant that the top Pakistani diplomat took up the floor to launch a verbal dual against India.

India did not immediately exercise its right to response to Lodhi's remarks, in which Pakistan for the second time accused the National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval of interfering in Balochistan, reported PTI.

Lodhi also said Pakistan remains open to resuming a comprehensive dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues, especially Jammu and Kashmir and discuss measures to maintain peace and security.

Meanwhile, fighter jets, drone deals and shared concerns over Afghanistan's security look set to dominate the agenda when US Defense Secretary James Mattis visits India this week, reported AFP.

Mattis was scheduled to arrive late yesterday and was set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new defence minister, in the first visit by a top US official since Donald Trump became president in January.

"The United States views India as a valued and influential partner, with broad mutual interests extending well beyond South Asia," a Pentagon statement said.

Mattis "will express US appreciation for India's important contributions toward Afghanistan's democracy, stability, prosperity, and security", the Pentagon said.