Jaishankar's reality check for UN with a crude Pakistan example: 'When a sitting member openly protects ...'

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday took a sharp dig at the United Nations, highlighting its inaction on terrorism and pointing to Pakistan’s attempts to shield terror groups at the global body.

Speaking at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the UN, Jaishankar said the global body’s work has been “gridlocked” due to the absence of urgent reforms.

He also criticised attempts to equate victims and perpetrators of terrorism, in an apparent reference to how India and Pakistan are sometimes hyphenated in global discourse on terror attacks.

“Few examples are more telling about the challenges facing the UN than its response to terrorism. When a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organisation that claims responsibility for the barbaric terror attack such as at Pahalgam, what does it do to the credibility of multilateralism,” he said, without directly naming Pakistan.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was behind the deadly Pahalgam attack in which 26 innocent civilians were shot dead by armed gunmen.

Jaishankar further warned against cynical global approaches that shield terrorists. “Similarly, if victims and perpetrators of terrorism are equated in the name of global strategy, how much more cynical can the world get. When self-proclaimed terrorists are shielded from the sanctioning process, what does it say for the sincerity of those involved,” he said.

Pakistan, a current member of the UN Security Council, had reportedly attempted to remove references to TRF in the UNSC press statement condemning the attack.

Jaishankar also flagged broader challenges facing the UN. “All is not well with the UN as its debates have become increasingly polarised and its working visibly gridlocked,” he said, adding that “any meaningful reform is obstructed using the reform process itself.”

He noted that the UN’s struggle to maintain international peace and security has wider consequences for development. “If the maintenance of international peace and security has become lip service, the predicament of development and socio-economic progress is even more serious,” he said, highlighting delays in the SDG Agenda 2030 and other global issues.

Despite his criticism, Jaishankar stressed the need to remain committed to multilateralism. “Yet, on such a notable anniversary, we cannot abandon hope. However difficult, the commitment to multilateralism must remain strong. However flawed, the United Nations must be supported in this time of crisis,” he added.

(With inputs from PTI)