Young envoy leaves Pak in tatters in reply to Sharif's UNGA speech

NEW DELHI: Exactly five hours after Pakistan PM Nawaz

Sharif

's vitriolic utterances on Kashmir, India's permanent mission fielded young diplomat Eenam Gambhir to not just take the sting out of Sharif 's diatribe, but put the focus back on Pak-sponsored terrorism.

The Indian mission, headed by Syed Akbaruddin, delivered a master-stroke by getting the poised and articulate Gambhir, a young woman diplomat and first secretary, to exercise India's right to reply by reading out India's stinging response.

An IFS officer of the 2005 batch, Gambhir's quietly spoken words were soon a rage on social media with the India brigade seizing the vi deo gleefully . Having earlier worked with the Pakistan desk in MEA also played a role in her selection as India's choice to serve up a spicy rebuttal to Sharif 's remarks.

If her seniors drafted the script, Gambhir delivered the blow with composure and authority , earning appreciation of her colleagues while the social media revved up to the use of catchy phrases like “Ivy League of Terrorism“.

The statement itself was drafted by Akbaruddin and valuable inputs came in from Rudrendra Tandon, joint secretary UN (political) in the MEA who used to head the Pakistan desk here. Sujata Mehta, secretary (west), added the references to nuclear issues. The final draft was em bellished by foreign secretary S Jaishankar. The speech indicated political inputs too.

The image that the Pakistan PM had tried to create -of a big angry bully called India -was amply refuted by the picture of the young woman rebutting his assertions. In contrast to Sharif 's heavy style -his supporters would hesitate to call him a gifted orator -the videos also caught her in the same frame as three burly male diplomats from Pakistan, which completed the message India wanted to send.

There were several messages India scrunched into that 3-minute speech -the misuse of international aid for terror groups, Pakistan's disregard to its international commitments on terror, Burhan Wani, not as the leader of a new generation of activists, but as the commander of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen. After Nawaz Sharif spoke passionately about women and children being killed by India, the Indian statement reminded of the way women and children are treated in Pakistan.

While India has earlier also fielded officials of the same rank to exercise right of reply against Pakistan PMs, the choice of a woman on this occasion to take on Sharif made this right to reply special. Top officials felt this would act as a perfect counterpoise to Sharif's fulminations.

“India very carefully chose the means of response,“ said a top official here. Officials had just hours to respond to Sharif 's speech and knew they had to hit Pakistan hard on terrorism.