Speaking to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar criticized Islamabad for sheltering terrorist Osama Bin Laden and the attack on Parliament in 2001. After Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto brought up the Kashmir problem during a Council discussion on reformed multilateralism, Jaishankar made his stern remarks.
According to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar
The credibility of the UN rests on how well it handles the major problems of the present day, such as pandemics, terrorism, conflict, and climate change.Â
He further stated, “Our discourse must never accept the normalization of such dangers while looking for solutions. The need to defend actions that the rest of the world considers wrong shouldn’t even arise. That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Furthermore, sheltering Osama bin Laden and attacking a nearby parliament cannot be used as justification for speaking before this Council, he added.
Mr. Jaishankar made this strong remark, after Bilawal Bhutto, the foreign minister of Pakistan, brought up the Kashmir conflict during a Council discussion on reformed multilateralism.
According to the foreign minister of Pakistan, the UN Security Council (UNSC) is largely in charge of preserving world peace and security. Bhutto stated that Pakistan firmly believes that the Security Council’s active participation may help to settle important security issues, especially those in its region. “Multilateralism should be based on universal and consistent adherence to the UN charter,” he added.
Bhutto stated, “Adding new permanent members to the UNSC will numerically limit the opportunities for the great majority of the UN member states to be present on the Security Council,” in response to requests for India to be admitted to the Security Council. The sovereign equality of all must be upheld, not the supremacy of the few.
This is not the first time Pakistan has utilized the UN platform intended for international agenda to highlight its bilateral concerns. India responds in equal measures and calls out its misuse of the UN stage.
Before the curtains come down this month on India’s two-year time as an elected member of the powerful 15-nation club, Mr. Jaishankar came to the UN on Tuesday to preside over two landmark meetings on counterterrorism and reformed multilateralism being hosted under the country’s current UN Security Council Presidency.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked after New Delhi abolished Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019, to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Pakistan’s response to India’s decision was strong; as a result, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian representative.
India has clearly said to the international community that the removal of Article 370 was a domestic affair. It also urged Pakistan to embrace the truth and cease spreading false information against India. India has expressed its wish for regular neighborly ties with Islamabad in an atmosphere free of terror, enmity, and bloodshed in Pakistan.
