United Nations, 23 July

India told a UN Security Council meeting presided over by Pakistan that there should be a “serious cost” to nations who foment cross-border terrorism, as it described the neighbouring country as a “serial borrower” steeped in “fanaticism”.

“As we debate promoting international peace and security, it is essential to recognise that there are some fundamental principles which need to be universally respected. One of them is zero tolerance for terrorism,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said.

Harish delivered the national statement on Tuesday at the UN Security Council high-level open debate on ‘Promoting International Peace and Security through Multilateralism and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes’ held under Pakistan’s presidency of the 15-nation Council for July.

Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar presided over the open debate that was also addressed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

In his remarks to the debate in his national capacity, Dar raked the issue of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Indus Waters Treaty.

In the wake of the Pahalgam attack, India decided that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 would be held in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. Turkiye also made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir in its statement at the open debate.

Giving a strong response to Dar’s remarks, Harish said that the Indian sub-continent offers a “stark contrast" in terms of progress, prosperity and development models.

“On the one hand, there is India, which is a mature democracy, a surging economy and a pluralistic and inclusive society. At the other extreme is Pakistan, steeped in fanaticism and terrorism, and a serial borrower from the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

In May this year, the IMF had approved disbursement of about one billion dollars to Pakistan under Extended Fund Facility (EFF), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about USD 2.1 billion.

In his statement in the UNSC chamber, Harish spoke about the Pahalgam terror attack for which The Resistance Front, a front for Pakistan-based terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility.

Harish emphasised that there should be a “serious cost” to states who “violate the spirit of good neighbourliness and international relations by fomenting cross-border terrorism.”

"It ill behoves a member of the Council to offer homilies while indulging in practices that are unacceptable to the international community,” the Indian envoy said.

He said that consequent to the gruesome terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April that led to the killing of 26 innocent tourists, and based on the 25 April UNSC statement, India launched Operation Sindoortargeting terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In the UNSC statement, Council members had underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.

Harish said India’s response was focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. “On achieving its primary objectives, a cessation of military activities was directly concluded at the request of Pakistan,” he said.

Earlier, Acting US Representative Ambassador Dorothy Shea said at the meeting that in the past three months alone, US leadership delivered "de-escalations" between Israel and Iran, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and between India and Pakistan.

“The United States, under President Trump’s leadership, played an important role in encouraging the parties to reach these resolutions, which we applaud and support,” Shea said.

Harish stressed that in recent decades, the nature of conflicts has transformed, with a "proliferation of non-state actors, often proposed and propped up as proxies by state actors; and cross-border funding, arms trafficking, training of terrorists, and spread of radical ideologies, facilitated by modern digital and communication technologies.”

He said that on the question of peaceful settlement of disputes, Chapter VI of the UN Charter begins with a recognition that it is the ‘parties to a dispute’ who must first of all seek a solution by peaceful means of their own choice.

“National ownership and consent of parties are central to any efforts to achieve peaceful resolution of conflicts,” he said.

Harish underlined that there cannot be one standard approach to dispute resolution. “The changing circumstances and context also need to be taken into account while considering any such efforts.”