Pakistan's former Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, recently faced public embarrassment at a United Nations press briefing after he was fact-checked by a reporter for making unsubstantial claims that Muslims were being 'demonised' in India. Bilawal Bhutto, part of Islamabad's diplomatic team at the UN, made the remarks during a press conference to clarify Pakistan's stance on Kashmir.
Pahalgam attack was politicised to demonise Indian Muslims, alleges Bhutto
During the press briefing, Bhutto alleged that the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 civilians, was being politicised to vituperate Indian Muslims.
However, a media reporter attending the event called out the sweeping generalisation and drew from personal experience, saying that Indian Army briefings, including those on Operation Sindoor, were conducted by Muslim officers themselves.
"You said that the recent terrorist attack in Kashmir is being used as a political tool to demonise Muslims in India. But, sir, I have watched briefings on both sides, and as far as I recall, there were Muslim Indian military officers who were conducting the briefings on the Indian side," the journalist fact-checked Bhutto.
Remark from journalist unsettles Bhutto
The remark from the reporter unsettled Bhutto, who offered no rebuttal and merely acknowledged, "As far as the operations are concerned, you're absolutely right".
The reporter's pointing out the matter was in reference to the media briefings on Operation Sindoor held by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who gained nationwide prominence along with another woman officer, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
Bilawal Bhutto right now is leading a parliamentary delegation to the United States and will present Islamabad's version of recent regional tensions. The visit of the Pakistan delegation comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the April 22 terror attack.
Bhutto addressed a briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York and sought reconciliation with India, making a plea for talks and Intel sharing between the two neighbours.
Pakistan suffers great losses during Operation Sindoor
The Pakistani side has suffered great losses after it attempted to target Indian defence and civil installations in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
As per an ongoing analysis of the damage inflicted upon Pakistan by the Indian Air Force, it is emerging that 6 PAF fighter jets, two high-value aircraft, over 10 UCAVs, one C-130 transport aircraft, along with multiple cruise missiles, were destroyed by Indian air-launched cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles.
Bhutto seeks peace talks with India after Operation Sindoor
Bhutto wants to go back to diplomacy and dialogue, emphasising that it was the only viable path to peace. "Pakistan would still like to cooperate with India to combat terrorism. We can't leave the fate of 1.5 billion, 1.7 billion people in the hands of non-state actors and terrorists," he said.
"For them to decide, at a whim, that (when these) two nuclear-armed powers will go to war," he said.
This statement, in effect, gives credence to India's stand that terror operatives based in Pakistan had planned the Pahalgam attack that saw the killing of 26 innocent people.
India has also publicly stated that any further terrorist activity would warrant similar action. But Bhutto stressed the need for a dispute resolution mechanism.
"You can't have no dispute resolution mechanisms between two nuclear-armed countries," he said.
Ironically, Bhutto also suggested cooperation between Pakistan and India's intelligence agencies to take on terrorism in South Asia.
"I am completely confident that if ISI and RAW were ready to sit down and work together to fight these forces, we would see a significant decrease in terrorism in both India and Pakistan," he said.