India unsparing at UNSC: EAM charts 8-pt plan; exposes Pakistan on Dawood, others on vetos

In an unsparing attack on Pakistan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India on Tuesday asserted that the international community must not allow terrorism to be justified and terrorists glorified. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the UN Security Council that the crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai blasts is given not just State protection but enjoying 5-star hospitality.

"First, we must all summon up the political will to unhesitatingly combat terrorism. There must be no ifs and buts in this fight. Nor should we allow terrorism to be justified and terrorists glorified. All member states must fulfil their obligations enshrined in international counter-terrorism instruments and conventions," Jaishankar said in a virtual address. This is the first time that EAM was making an intervention in the UNSC after India has assumed membership on January 1, 2021.

He was speaking at the UNSC Ministerial Meeting on Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts: 'International cooperation in combating terrorism 20 years after the adoption of resolution 1373 (2001).' 

Jaishankar proposed an eight-point Action Plan for the UN system to credibly address the menace of terrorism and ensure effective action. He asserted that linkages between terrorism and transnational organised crime must be fully recognised and addressed vigorously. 

'Terrorists are terrorists': S Jaishankar

"We, in India, have seen the crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts not just given State protection but actually enjoying 5-star hospitality," he said, alluding to D-Company and its head Dawood Ibrahim, believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

In August last year, Pakistan had for the first time acknowledged the presence of Ibrahim on its soil after the government imposed sweeping sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders which also included the name of the underworld don wanted by India.

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Jaishankar emphasised that the international community must not "countenance double standards" in the battle against terrorism. "Terrorists are terrorists; there are no good and bad ones. Those who propagate this distinction have an agenda. And those who cover up for them are just as culpable," he said.

"Accordingly, we must reform the working methods of the Committees dealing with Sanctions and Counter-Terrorism. Transparency, accountability and effectiveness are the need of the day. The practice of placing blocks and holds on listing requests without any rhyme or reason must end. This only erodes our collective credibility," he said, an apparent reference to China which had repeatedly blocked India's bids at the UN to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Before India succeeded in its nearly 10-year long efforts to have Azhar designated as a global terrorist at the UN last year, China, Pakistan's all-weather ally, had repeatedly blocked New Delhi's attempts to list him under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UNSC.

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(With agency inputs)