United Nations: Exposing Pakistan’s doublespeak on terrorism at the UN, India has called out Islamabad’s efforts to gloss over its state support for terror by announcing rewards for JeM chief Masood Azahar, underlining that the world has not forgotten 9/11, 26/11 and Pahalgam attacks.
India on Wednesday exercised its Right of Reply in response to the Pakistan representative’s statement in the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly on the Agenda Item: Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism.
“Pakistan speaks of combating terrorism while seeking to obscure the very question that this committee must confront: What happens when terrorists are financed, facilitated, trained, sheltered, or supported from the territory of a state?” First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Raghoo Puri said.
He said India has been consistent on this question, underscoring that terrorism cannot be defeated by declarations and instead requires action against its perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors.
“For years, Pakistan has presented itself as a frontline state in combating terrorism and as a victim while masking the fact that the Frankensteins the Pakistani state has created and lost control over have moved from wreaking havoc in neighbouring countries to doing the same in Pakistan,” Puri said.
Calling out Pakistan’s doublespeak on terrorism, Puri said the country “glosses over its state support for terrorism by announcing enhanced rewards for apprehending UN-listed head of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist and mastermind of several attacks against my country, Masood Azhar.”
He said the world is aware of Pakistan’s financial support to terrorism.
“Yet, we also remember that just a few months ago, Pakistani representatives used this forum to call the Jaish-e-Mohammed a defunct organisation. The world has seen the script play earlier, and we are clear-eyed that this time also it is going to be no different,” he said.
Puri said that when the media can reach Azhar and get confirmation from him about the success of Operation Sindoor, “surely the Pakistani state knows his whereabouts”.
In May last year, India had launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the dastardly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir perpetrated by The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists were killed.
Earlier this month, India had dismissed as “gimmicks” Pakistan’s fresh announcement of a bounty of seven million rupees on Azhar, demanding that Islamabad take “concrete action” to combat terrorism.
India has for years accused Pakistan of sheltering Azhar, while Pakistan has maintained that he fled to Afghanistan – a claim rejected by Afghanistan’s Taliban government.
For the last few years, Islamabad has claimed that the JeM founder has been operating from Afghanistan.
However, the Taliban regime dismissed Pakistan’s repeated claims, with a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official saying he is not in the country.
Islamabad’s fresh announcement on the reward for information on Azhar came as it faces pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to crack down on terror groups and their leadership.
The Paris-based global watchdog is set to review Pakistan’s anti-terrorism efforts at its upcoming plenary.
Pakistan was placed under the FATF grey list between 2018 and 2022 for its systemic deficiencies in anti-money laundering and its failure to counter-terror financing.
Puri also recalled a recent statement by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had said,“The unfortunate thing is that the threat [Punjab] faces comes less from my neighbouring countries and more from my neighbouring provinces.”
Exposing this “dark secret”, Puri said, “You cannot run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. Reality never works like that.”
“When terrorist groups are allowed to operate under state political power, international commitments become meaningless and when perpetrators are provided safe havens, the victims of terrorism are denied justice,” he said.
“The world has not forgotten 9/11 and where its perpetrators, including Osama bin Laden, were caught. The world has not forgotten 26/11. The world has not forgotten Pahalgam,” Puri said, adding that the list, “unfortunately”, is painfully long.
“The victims in Pahalgam were not asked about their political orientation, they were asked about their religion. It is therefore deeply ironic that Pakistan speaks of combating religious hatred while allowing the conditions that enable it to persist and thrive, especially by fomenting cross-border terrorism,” he said.
“Pakistan continues with its narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation. If bombed-out airfields and cratered runways look like victory to Pakistan, they are of course welcome to enjoy it,” Puri said.
“Any regime against terrorism to be effective must do two things: assign responsibility and ensure accountability. India will defend its people, and continued terrorism against India will have consequences,” he added.
In another Right of Reply, Puri said India rejected Pakistan’s “circular economy” of words and narratives.
“If this much effort had actually been made in countering terrorism rather than narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation, the world would have been a better place. But nothing more can be expected from a Form 47 government,” he said, referring to a term used to describe allegations of rigging and manipulation in Pakistan’s 2024 general elections.
