Nation that hosted Osama can’t sermonise on Kashmir: Jaishankar’s dig at Pakistan

In a sharp rebuttal to Pakistan’s attempt to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said the country which hosted slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and attacked a neighbouring Parliament does not have the credentials to sermonize” in the power UN organ.

Jaishankar was responding to his Pakistan counterpart Bilawal Bhutto’s comments on Kashmir.

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Jaishankar said the credibility of the UN depends on its effective response to the “key challenges of our times, be it pandemics, climate change, conflicts or terrorism.”

“We are obviously focused today on the urgency of reforming multilateralism. We will naturally have our particular views, but there is a growing convergence at least that this cannot be delayed any further,” said Jaishankar, who is chairing India’s signature event on reformed multilateralism.

He said that while India will look for best solutions, it will never settle for the “normalisation of such threats.”

“The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise. That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament serve as credentials to sermonize before this Council,” he said.

Jaishankar in New York on Tuesday to preside over two signature events on counter-terrorism and reformed multilateralism being held under India’s current presidency of the UN Security Council, before the curtains come down this month on the country’s two-year tenure as an elected member of the powerful 15-nation.

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His strong remarks came after Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto raised the Kashmir issue while speaking in the Council debate on reformed multilateralism.

Jaishankar presided on Wednesday over the UN Security Council Open Debate on ‘Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism’, a signature event held under India’s Presidency of the 15-nation Council.

Among the over 60 speakers listed for the debate was Bhutto, who in his remarks to the Council, raised the Kashmir issue. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj was chairing the debate when Bhutto spoke in the Council.

Later, as Jaishankar presided over the debate, he gave a strong response to Bhutto’s comments.

He referred to the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks in the US bin Laden, who was living in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city and was killed in a raid at his hideout in May 2011 by US Navy seals.

Terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) had attacked the Indian Parliament complex in New Delhi 18 years ago on December 13, killing nine people.

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Tensions between India and Pakistan have worsened since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. India’s decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.

India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.

(With inputs from agencies)