At UNSC, Pakistan slams India for sponsoring cross-border terrorism

• Ambassador Jadoon accuses India of sponsoring regional terrorism.
• Pakistani diplomat urges India to end blame game, change behaviour.
• UN debate focuses on peace, multilateralism, and dispute resolution.

Pakistan has strongly rejected Indian accusations of cross-border terrorism, urging New Delhi to reflect on its actions rather than blaming others.

Speaking during a UNSC debate on “Promoting International Peace and Security through Multilateralism and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes,” Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, rejected Indian allegations and asked New Delhi to change its behaviour, instead of resorting to its tired narrative of victimhood and blame-shifting.

"It is India which actively sponsors, aids and abets terrorism in my country and beyond," Ambassador Usman Jadoon told the 15-member body on Tuesday evening, while responding to the allegations made by India's UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish.

Ambassador Jadoon said that it was especially regrettable that the Indian ambassador targeted Pakistan on Tuesday when earlier in the day, the Council spoke with a unanimous voice to reaffirm the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the imperative of peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for international law and effective implementation of the resolution of the Security Council.

The Indian envoy was reacting to Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar who underscored the need for the resolution of Kashmir dispute in a speech he gave in his national capacity after the adoption of Pakistan-sponsored resolution calling for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

"First of all," the Pakistani envoy asserted that India was in illegal occupation of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

"While claiming to abide by the UN Charter and purportedly the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes, India has been in violation of Security Council resolutions on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, and has refused to implement those resolutions, thereby denying the Kashmiri people the exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination," he added.

"India’s egregious violations of human rights, which extend beyond the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir and encompass its appalling treatment of minorities, have been widely reported by international human rights organisations,” Jadoon pointed out.

He also said that India has stooped to a new low of unilaterally and illegally holding in abeyance the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty – with the stated aim of depriving the people of Pakistan of water from the Indus river system.

“In gross violation of international law, India resorted to blatant aggression against my country between May 7-10, targeting civilians, including women and children,” the Pakistani envoy said, highlighting Pakistan's befitting but measured response by its right to self-defense, aimed exclusively at military targets resulting in the downing of six Indian aircraft that took part in the act of aggression, among other significant military losses.

"The hostilities came to an end owing to Pakistan’s position of strength and responsible approach, and facilitation of the United States, as also highlighted in the statement of the US [this morning], " Ambassador Jadoon told delegates.

"It is ironic that India, which itself brought the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the UNSC, refuses to implement the resolutions adopted by the Council to peacefully resolve this dispute," the Pakistani envoy remarked.

Stung by the success of Pakistan’s signature event at the Council, the Indian envoy had claimed that Pakistan was “steeped in fanaticism and terrorism, and a serial borrower from the IMF.”

The debate will resume on July 24 to listen to the remaining speakers after listening to scores of high-level representatives.

Earlier, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution urging member-states to take measures for the effective implementation of the 15-member body’s resolutions for the peaceful settlement of disputes — such as Kashmir and Palestine.

The UNSC took action on the resolution at a meeting, organised under the "Maintenance of international peace and security" agenda item, that highlighted concerning trends of protracted and unresolved disputes threatening international peace and security, and calling for reinforced collective efforts to address them — one of the two signature events proposed by Pakistan under its presidency of the world body's power centre.

DPM Dar, who especially came to New York over the weekend to preside over the high-level event, put the resolution to a vote, and then banged the gavel confirming its adoption.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who opened the debate, commended DPM Dar for convening the debate and for utilising the UNSC's presidency to put forward a resolution urging all member states to make full use of the tools in the collective pursuit of global peace, saying: "This is needed now more than ever."