India’s Modi targets neighbors at UN, but not by name

By MALLIKA SEN
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t directly mention Pakistan or China in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, but the targets of his address were clear. On Saturday, he called upon the international community to help Afghanistan and said that it was imperative the country not be used as a base from which to spread terror. Modi also highlighted what he called the need to protect oceans from “the race for expansion and exclusion.” India and China have long competed for influence in the Indian Ocean. On the heels of waves of coronavirus surges, Modi made no mention of his own country’s death toll.