Senior BJP leader and finance minister on Friday said the core issue was to get JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations, and it was not important that there was no mention of either Pulwama attack or incidents of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the resolution.
When asked about why the Pulwama attacks and the Kashmir conflict failed to find mention in the UN mandate, Jaitley responds that the core issue was none of this -- but to designate Azhar as terrorist. "The UN gave a list, not a biodata on Masood Azhar," he adds.
The UN Sanctions Committee on Wednesday designated the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar a global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to ban him.
While senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the process to list Azhar as global terrorist had first begun in 2009 under the UPA government, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah termed Azhar's designation as global terrorist "a symbolic win".
Senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that the current dispensation succeeded in an attempt the country has been making for the last 10 years, "but then they (opposition) says 'this is trivial, what is big in it'."
Addressing a press conference at the party office, he said there was a tradition in the country to speak in one voice on issues such as external affairs and national security but there has been a departure from it in the last few years.
Emphasising that the labelling of Azhar as a global terrorist is a "great diplomatic achievement for India", the finance minister said, "If India wins, Indians win, but there are friends in opposition who are not celebrating it as they may have to pay a political price for it."
Attacking the Congress-led UPA government, Jaitley said that the country's position before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks was known to everyone. "Post the 26/11 attacks, at least 25 terrorists were released by the then government within weeks as a part of the goodwill gesture so that Pakistan cooperates."
"We continue to stand by our theme of nationalism and all allied issues. We also continue to stand with the themes of our PM's leadership and the performance of the government," he added.
He also attacked the Congress party of playing the Hindu card every time during elections. "There are some Congress leaders who have become Hindus keeping the Lok Sabha election in mind. However, now everyone has realised that Congress is a fringe organisation," he said.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was accompanying Jaitley at the press conference, attributed the success of sanctioning of JeM chief to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Terrorism shall not be tolerated and this declaration from the UN is noteworthy. It is the result of persistent measures taken by the external affairs ministry, under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she said.
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