UNSC to hold closed-door meeting today over India-Pakistan tensions

Tensions between the two neighbours have sharply escalated since the Pahalgam attack, which was claimed, and later disavowed, by The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot.

The UN Security Council will convene closed consultations on Monday to discuss escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, following a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam region that claimed the lives of 26 civilians, mostly tourists.

Catch live updates on India-Pakistan tensions here.

The emergency meeting was requested by Pakistan, a current non-permanent member of the 15-nation Council, which is presided over by Greece for the month of May. The Greek mission confirmed that the consultations will take place in the afternoon of May 5.

In the wake of the April 22 attack, India has ramped up diplomatic and economic pressure on Islamabad, accusing it of sheltering and backing cross-border terrorism. Measures include suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, shutting down the Attari land border crossing, and downgrading diplomatic ties.

Greek Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris, who currently chairs the Security Council, stated last week that any act of terrorism must be strongly condemned. "This is what we did on the heinous terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam," he said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has since reached out to all Council members, excluding China and Pakistan, to convey India’s position. He noted the need to bring the perpetrators and their backers to justice, and also spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and several global foreign ministers, including those of Russia, the US, the UK, France, and South Korea.

Pakistan’s UN envoy, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, defended the request for the UNSC meeting, stating that the evolving situation posed a threat to both regional and global security. He also met with UN Secretary-General Guterres to brief him on Islamabad's perspective.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have sharply escalated since the Pahalgam attack, which was claimed, and later disavowed, by The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged “firm and decisive” action against terrorism, giving the armed forces "complete operational freedom" to determine the timing and nature of India’s response.