- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
PAKISTAN-based terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) continue to operate with both impunity and encouragement, India, which is holding the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August, said on Thursday (19).
India called on the council, a powerful body, not to take a “selective view” on the scourge of terrorism and not to lack courage in calling out the “double speak” of those who offer state hospitality to people who have innocents’ blood on their hands.
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar, who chaired a high-level briefing of the council on ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’ held under India’s current presidency, said the growing activities of the proscribed Haqqani Network justifies this growing anxiety.
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“In our own immediate neighbourhood, ISIL-Khorasan (ISIL-K) has become more energetic and is constantly seeking to expand its footprint. Events unfolding in Afghanistan have naturally enhanced global concerns about their implications for both regional and international security,” the Indian diplomat said.
“Whether it is in Afghanistan or against India, groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) continue to operate with both impunity and encouragement,” Jaishankar added.
He said it is therefore vital that the council “does not take a selective, tactical or complacent view of the problems we face”.
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“We must never countenance sanctuaries for terrorists or overlook their raising of resources,” he said.
Without naming Pakistan, Jaishankar said: “when we see state hospitality being extended to those with innocents’ blood on their hands, we should never lack the courage to call out their double-speak.”
Also drawing a parallel between the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the scourge of terrorism, Jaishankar told the 15-nation council that “let us always remember that what is true of Covid is even more true of terrorism: none of us are safe until all of us are safe”.
