Kathmandu.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly this Friday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister stated that “state-sponsored Islamophobia” in India has been an issue of concern for him.

Imran Khan accused the Government of India for unjustly casting blame on the Muslim minority for spreading coronavirus and denying medical treatment to them on several occassions. He appealed to the UNGA to declare an “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”, raising an issue with the growing prejudice towards Muslims in many countries.

The Indian Delegate present at the Assembly promptly walked away as Khan’s pre-recorded speech on the Kashmir issue began to play. A report published in Al Jazeera made a mention of the residents and protestors in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir, who have asserted that they had suffered through the brutality of the security forces stationed there. TS Tirumurti, the permanent representative of India to the UN, later took to Twitter and wrote that this incident was “a new diplomatic low” and that it represented “Another litany of vicious falsehood, personal attacks, warmongering and obfuscation of Pakistan’s persecution of its own minorities and of its cross-border terrorism. Befitting Right of Reply awaits.”

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech will be broadcasted today. According to The Hindustan Times, anonymous sources have claimed that Modi, amongst other issues, will predominantly focus on a global approach towards countering terrorism.

Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in delivering his address to the UNGA has extended his support towards the Indian proposal of the Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)  and has called for “an early conclusion of a comprehensive convention against terrorism.” The CCIT is a proposal that India submitted to the UN in 1996 that is yet to be adopted.

New Delhi has undoubtedly kept a close eye on the proceedings of the South Asian states within the General Assembly. Modi’s response today may determine the future of the tension between the two nuclear states within the region.