Hitting back Pakistan strongly in the UN Security Council, India said that a country that 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.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s remarks came after Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto raked up the Kashmir issue while speaking in the Council debate on reformed multilateralism.
“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 External Affairs Minister Jaishankar chairing India’s signature event on reformed multilateralism.
“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. While we search for the best solutions, what our discourse must never accept is the normalisation of such threats,” he said.
“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 added after Pakistan raised the Kashmir issue.
Jaishankar arrived at the United Nations on Tuesday to preside over two signature events on counter terrorism and reformed multilateralism held under India’s current Presidency of the UN Security Council.
Notably, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the US, Osama bin Laden, was living in Pakistan’s Abbottabad and he was killed by US Navy seals in a raid at his hideout.
Pakistan based Lashkar e Taiba and the Jaish e Mohammed terrorists had attacked the Indian Parliament eighteen years ago on December 13 killing nine people.
