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New Delhi: Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Saturday, in which he spoke about terrorism and extremism, Sneha Dubey India’s first secretary at the UN made headlines for delivering a fiery speech in response to Pakistan.
“Pakistan holds the despicable record of hosting the highest number of terrorists banned by the United Nations Security Council. Osama bin Laden has found refuge in Pakistan. Even today Pakistani leaders glorify him as a “martyr” “, Dubey noted to UNGA, adding that Islamabad is an “arsonist” disguising himself as a “fireman”.
The 2012 batch IFS officer exercised India’s right of reply to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statements to the UNGA. The right of reply is a UN procedure which occurs after the day’s events or meetings, in which a delegation has the right to defend itself against public criticism in the same place.
Several social media users praised Dubey’s “Answer worthy of the name”, while some called it a “lioness”.
Over the past five years, three other young Indian female diplomats, Eenam Gambhir, Vidisha Maitra and Paulomi Tripathi, have also denounced Islamabad over terrorism and the Kashmir issue at the UN.
ThePrint traces the journey of these four women and the speeches they gave at the UN that caught everyone’s attention.
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Sneha Dubey, the last
Born and raised in Goa, Dubey received a BA from Fergusson College, Pune and an MA in Geography from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She then pursued a master’s degree in philosophy at the School of International Studies at JNU.
“Since I was 12, I wanted to be part of the Indian foreign service,†she said in a 2013 maintenance with a magazine published by the UPSC Chanakya IAS Academy training center.
In the interview, she also mentioned that no one in her family had IFS training, and she passed her UPSC exam in 2011 on the first try.
After graduating from the Class of 2012, she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an Under-Secretary and later served as Third Secretary at the Embassy of India in Madrid, Spain.
Vidisha Maitra, who criticized Imran for “defending” Bin Laden
In September 2019, Maitra made headlines for his dazzling response to Imran Khan after warning of a ‘bloodbath’ in Jammu and Kashmir at UNGA. While serving as First Secretary of India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Maitra said: “Can the Prime Minister of Pakistan confirm that he is home to 130 UN-designated terrorists and 25 listed terrorist entities? by the UN to date?
She further asked: “Would Prime Minister Imran Khan deny New York City that he was an open supporter of Osama bin Laden?”
Vidisha Maitra[IFS:2009] issues India’s right of reply to @UN#UNGA# UNGA74 @IndiaUNNewYork @AkbaruddinIndia
Full statement https://t.co/8dE8PqH3SM pic.twitter.com/Yw3hTnspNY pic.twitter.com/ngrRP2JG3M– Indian Foreign Service (@indiandiplomats) September 28, 2019
Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi had greeted the diplomat for “having denied all the lies uttered by the Pakistani Prime Minister”.
Maitra is an IFS agent from the 2009 batch, who won the gold medal for “best training officer” for his performance in training. She was previously Undersecretary (Policy, Planning and Research) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Last November she was elected the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly that ensures that financial contributions to the United Nations are used wisely and that mandates are properly funded.
This was a crucial role as India prepared to serve on the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term starting in January 2021.
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Paulomi Tripathi, who denounced the fake news
In September 2017, Tripathi turned heads by giving a to respond to former Pakistani UN representative Maleeha Lodhi, a day after Lodhi showed UNGA a photograph of a woman from Gaza as “a victim of gunshot wounds in Kashmir”.
Tripathi clarified that the photo actually showed a girl from Palestine, not Kashmir. “A false image to push a completely false story,†Tripathi retorted.
She then held up another photo of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, an army officer who was assassinated while on leave to attend a wedding. “This is a real and not a false image of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz… He was brutally tortured and killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists in May 2017,†she said.
This is a real photo, of Lt Ummer Fayaz, a young officer from J&K. He was brutally tortured and killed by terrorists backed by Pak: India #UNGA pic.twitter.com/i2CFVUplvj
– ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2017
A 2007– Batch IFS Officer, Tripathi recently held the position of Assistant Secretary in the Foreign Service Personnel and Management Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was also to advise at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.
Eenam Gambhir, who hit Nawaz Sharif
In September 2016, Gambhir made waves for calling former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the UNGA a “long tirade†on the situation in Kashmir.
Statement by Ms. Eenam Gambhir, First Secretary, exercising India’s right of reply during the general debate on #UNGA @IndiaUNNewYork pic.twitter.com/ZedTexsCZU
– Indian Diplomacy (@IndianDiplomacy) September 22, 2016
“In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of pure has in fact produced “the land of pure terrorâ€. Pakistan is now a “terrorist”, “she said. noted.
Gambhir, an IFS officer in the 2005 class, is currently Director of the Multilateral Economic Relations Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dealing with G-20 issues, BRICS and G-7.
She previously served as to advise to the Permanent Mission of India to the UN and senior advisor on peace and security issues at the office of the president of the UNGA. She also worked in Indian embassies in Mexico and Argentina.
Gambhir holds of them postgraduate degrees – a Masters in Mathematics from the University of Delhi and a Masters in Advanced International Security from the University of Geneva.
Read also : Pakistan has been “instigator” of problems in India’s neighborhood, says Foreign Minister Shringla
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