Country that hosted Osama bin Laden can’t give sermons, says India at UN as Pakistan talks about J&K
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the statement on a discussion on reformed multilateralism at the UN Security Council.
A country that hosted al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and attacked its neighbour’s Parliament cannot give sermons in the United Nations, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Jaishankar made the statement after Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto raised the Kashmir issue while speaking in the Council debate on reformed multilateralism, reported PTI.
The Indian minister, in his response, was referring to the attack on Parliament complex in New Delhi on December 13, 2002, by terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Nine persons were killed in the firing.
He also referred to Pakistan allegedly hosting Laden in the country and denying having any knowledge of his presence till United States Navy Seals killed him in a house in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011.
Statement at UNSC Open Debate on Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism. https://t.co/SUwBR8X2af
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 14, 2022
In his address on the discussion on reformed multilateralism, Jaishankar also said that the credibility of the UN depends on its effective response to important challenges be it pandemics, climate change, conflicts or terrorism.
“While we search for the best solutions, what our discourse must never accept is the normalisation of such threats,” he added. “The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise. That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism.”
Bhutto had said at the discussion that countries that are parties to a dispute cannot advocate multilateral processes and reforms as well as insist on a bilateral solution for a conflict one day and then take unilateral actions, reported ANI. He was apparently referring to Kashmir and India’s stance towards it.
India has consistently held that the whole of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and has opposed any outside interference in the region.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen 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 had strong reactions from Pakistan.