Sushma Swaraj speech effect? Pakistan wants UN to declare India state sponsor of terror, lobbying efforts on: Pak media

Pakistan is lobbying in the United Nations to get India declared a state sponsor of terrorism, a leading Pakistan daily reported just hours after Sushma Swaraj tore into Islamabad at the UN General Assembly for supporting terror groups. 

"India is the mother of terrorism in South Asia," Pakistan told the United Nations in response to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tearing into Islamabad for its support for terror groups.

Now, it seems, Pakistan, which also targeted PM Narendra Modi in its response to Sushma, wants the world body to declare India a 'state sponsor of terrorism', a tag that carries with it threats of international sanctions.

This is according to a report in The Express Tribune, a Karachi-based English language daily. The Tribune report, which cites unnamed sources, says that Pakistan has begun lobbying efforts in the United Nations to get India declared a 'state sponsor of terrorism'.

For this, the Tribune says, Pakistan is approaching China and Russia, two of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, for support.

Beijing, Islamabad's all-weather ally, is already said to be on board, the Tribune report says. The newspaper's sources further say the United States, another permanent UNSC member, will also be 'taken into confidence' over the matter.
The report does not mention when Pakistan's lobbying efforts to get India designated a state sponsor of terror began.
Nor does the Tribune say whether Islamabad's actions were sparked by Sushma Swaraj's hard-hitting speech at the United Nations General Assembly where she excoriated Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups.
The report, which came hours after Swaraj delivered her speech, does mention Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's speech in the UNGA from earlier this week in which he accused India of running a "campaign of subversion and state-sponsored terrorism".

CAN PAKISTAN DO IT?
Can Pakistan really get India declared a state sponsor of terrorism? For Islamabad to be successful in the endeavour, it would require the support of all five permanent member of the UN Security Council - US, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
Even if the report were to be believed in that Beijing has indicated its backing for the move, it must be noted that Moscow has usually stood by New Delhi and that Washington has soured on Islamabad.
In recent times, the Donald Trump administration in the US has increasingly voiced its disapproval of Pakistan's 'double game' in the fight against terrorism.
President Donald Trump, in a departure from US tradition, explicitly called Pakistan out for offering terrorists "safe haven", when he unveiled his new South Asia policy.
It must also be noted that even China has refused to get involved in the Kashmir issue, saying as recently as this week that the matter was something that New Delhi and Islamabad must solve on their own

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