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Pakistan's blooper: UN envoy uses injured Palestinian's pic as 'evidence' of atrocities in Kashmir

PTI
New York, NY, United StatesUpdated: Sep 24, 2017, 01:34 PM IST
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Pakistan envoy Maleeha Lodhi resorted to waving dramatic pictures of a girl with pellet injuries on her face at the United Nations General Assembly session. Photograph:(ANI)

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The picture used by Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN was reported by a number of media outlets as that of Rawia Abu Joma'a, a 17-year-old girl injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza city in 2014

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi in her right to reply to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's speech at the UN showed pictures of Palestinian victims and said they were "evidence" of atrocities on Kashmiris.

Maleeha Lodhi waved dramatic pictures of a girl with pellet injuries on her face and added, "this was the face of Indian democracy", while suggesting that Kashmiris had been injured by pellet guns.

However, upon closer inspection of the picture, Maleeha Lodhi's claim seemed to have boomeranged on her.

The picture used by Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN was reported by a number of media outlets as that of Rawia Abu Joma'a, a 17-year-old girl injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza city in 2014. Rawia's picture was taken by award winning photographer Heidi Levine.

Earlier on Saturday, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had said India has developed as a technical and scientific superpower despite being the principal destination of Pakistan's export of terrorism.

"India has risen despite being the principal destination of Pakistan's nefarious export of terrorism. There have been many governments under many parties during 70 years of Indian freedom, for we have been a sustained democracy. Every government has done its bit for India's development. We have marched ahead consistently without pause, in education, health and across the range of human welfare. We established scientific and technical institutions which are the pride of the world," Swaraj said while addressing the 72nd UNGA session in New York.

She also questioned what has Pakistan offered to the world and to its own people apart from terrorism.

In a stinging response to Pakistan at the UNGA, the external affairs minister said that India is completely engaged in fighting poverty, whereas Islamabad seems engaged in fighting New Delhi.