New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar targeted both Pakistan and China Friday for their respective roles in shielding terrorists and terrorist groups from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). However, he did not name either nation.
“Few examples are more telling about the challenges facing the UN than its response to terrorism. When a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organisation (TRF) that claims responsibility for the barbaric terror attack, such as at Pahalgam, what does it do to the credibility of multilateralism?” asked Jaishankar, though he did not name Pakistan.
“Similarly, if victims and perpetrators of terrorism are now equated in the name of global strategy, how much more cynical can the world get? When self-proclaimed terrorists stay shielded from the sanctioning process, what does it say for the sincerity of those involved?” Jaishankar asked, without naming China.
Pakistan, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), has taken credit for blocking any mention of The Resistance Front (TRF)—the proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba—in the condemnation statement published by the UN body on the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also has celebrated the effort to block any mentions of TRF in the National Assembly of Pakistan.
India has maintained that the TRF was behind the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 dead on 22 April this year. Pakistan has rejected the existence of TRF within its borders, while asserting that LeT—an internationally proscribed organisation by the UN—is defunct.
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, the TRF claimed credit on a social media post. However, only a few days later, it retracted the statement, saying the post was a “communications breach”, resulting from a “coordinated cyber intrusion” by Indian intelligence operatives.
The issue of UNSC members shielding terrorists on the sanctions lists of organisations was raised by the Indian External Affairs Minister against the backdrop of Beijing reportedly blocking efforts by New Delhi to have individual terrorists placed on the UN sanctions lists. Most recently, China has reportedly blocked India’s proposal to have five individuals affiliated with both the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad designated as terrorists by the UNSC over the last couple of years.
However, despite the difficulties New Delhi is facing in having the UNSC sanction the individuals affiliated with the groups allegedly carrying out terrorist attacks on Indian soil, there has been success in having individual nations designate the TRF as a terrorist entity. In July this year, the US placed the TRF on the sanctions list of the Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), labelling it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Additionally, the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UNSC, in July, published a report by its Monitoring Team (MT) linking the TRF to the Pahalgam attack after efforts by New Delhi. India has been providing the 1267 Sanctions Committee with information regarding the TRF’s activities. In 2024, on at least two occasions, India provided the MT with information on the TRF.
In recent years, groups such as the TRF, or the People Against Fascist Front, affiliated with the JeM, have received backing from Islamabad as part of its attempts to give an indigenous appearance to terrorist activities in Kashmir.
‘Process is punishment’ & UN reform
Jaishankar was speaking at an event for the release of a commemorative stamp issued by India Post on the 80th anniversary of the United Nations—known as the UN Day. Sibi George, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Vandita Kaul, Secretary, Department of Posts in the Ministry of Communications, were also present at the event.
In his speech, the External Affairs Minister criticised the ongoing gridlock within the United Nations system, pointing out the “more polarised” debates, as well as the obstruction of reforms in the multilateral system due to the process itself.
“Its decision-making neither reflects its membership nor addresses global priorities. Its debates have become increasingly polarised and are visibly gridlocked. Any meaningful reforms remain obstructed through the use of the reform process itself. Now, financial constraints have emerged as an additional concern. How to sustain the UN even while seeking its re-invention is clearly a major challenge before all of us,” said Jaishankar.
India has called for reforming the UNSC in view of the permanent members. Currently, the five permanent members of the UNSC are China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US.
Four of the five countries were part of the Allied Powers during World War II. Beijing was recognised by the UN as the official government of China in 1971. It assumed the fifth seat in the UNSC, which, up to that time, the Taiwanese administration had held.
There has been little reformation in the UNSC in the eighty years after its formation. India has since become the most populous nation globally, while it is one of the five largest economies worldwide. Similarly, there is no representation of the South American or African countries in the UNSC permanent membership. The permanent members hold the power to veto any resolution.
“Yet, on such a notable anniversary, we cannot abandon hope,” said Jaishankar, adding that no matter how difficult it becomes, the commitment to multilateralism must remain strong. “However flawed, the United Nations must, in this time of crisis, get support. Our faith in international cooperation must be reiterated, indeed renewed. It is in that spirit that we all meet to mark this occasion and seek to build a better world,” said Jaishankar.
Jaishanker clarified India’s position in the UN even as the United States—under President Donald Trump—has criticised the organisation and multilateralism in general.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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