India strongly criticised Pakistan over what it described as its continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism during a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) debate on “Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-Centred International System” on Tuesday.
The debate was chaired by China as part of its presidency of the 15-member Security Council, with Wang Yi leading the opening session.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, criticised Pakistan for what he called “baseless and unwarranted remarks” made during the discussion and said Islamabad’s statements on commitment to the UN Charter lacked credibility.
“The use of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan and its doctrine of ‘bleeding India by a thousand cuts’ exposes its hollow rhetoric of commitment to the UN Charter,” Harish said during the debate.
He added that India’s experience since Independence had been shaped by what he described as repeated aggression and support for cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.
“Independent India began its life battling cross-border aggression by Pakistan, which coveted Indian territories that had become a part of India as a result of their complete, legal and irrevocable accession,” he said.
Harish further argued that Pakistan had repeatedly acted against the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful coexistence through wars, attacks and support for terrorism.
“India has every right to defend itself from such cross-border terrorism. Pakistan will have to accept that there are consequences of its sponsorship of cross-border terrorism,” he said.
The Indian envoy also accused Pakistan of promoting extremist elements and urged it to end support for such activities.
“Pakistan’s harnessing of the malevolent forces of terrorism, religious extremism, violent radicalism and anti-India rhetoric has continued unabated since its creation,” he said, adding that Pakistan “must credibly and irrevocably end its support for all forms of terrorism.”
The remarks come days after India raised concerns at the UN over Afghan civilian casualties linked to cross-border violence involving Pakistani military forces and criticised Islamabad during a separate Security Council discussion.
During that earlier debate, Harish accused Pakistan of having a “long tainted record” while responding to references made by Pakistan’s UN representative on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.
India has repeatedly maintained that cross-border terrorism remains a major challenge to regional peace, stability and international security.
Comments are closed.