Sushma Swaraj to address UN General Assembly today

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will address the UN General Assembly in New York today, where she is expected to give a stinging response to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's UNGA speech.

Outlining India's focus for the UN General Assembly session, New Delhi's envoy to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said terrorism is the primary concern for India as well as for nations across the world.

He listed reform of the UN Security Council, sustainable development, climate change and peacekeeping as other priorities for India in the current UNGA session.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said that one can also expect a continued focus from India on the theme of terrorism which is today undoubtedly the single biggest challenge to international peace and security.

Exercising the Right of Reply to Sharif's tirade about the Kashmir, First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Eenam Gambhir had said that the worst violation of human rights is terrorism. She said Pakistan is home to the "Ivy League of Terrorism" and a terrorist state that commits war crimes by using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Gambhir said what India and its other neighbours are facing today is Pakistan's long-standing policy of sponsoring terrorism, the consequences of which have spread well beyond the region.

She had said India sees Pakistan as a terrorist state which channelises billions of dollars, much of it diverted from international aid, to training, financing and supporting terror groups as militant proxies against it neighbours.