Why in news?
India has strongly protested to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over Pakistan’s statement to a special discussion on terrorism.
What is the statement?
- The statement was Pakistan’s mission to the U.N.
- It was published as something delivered at an open debate on a report by the U.N. Secretary General.
What are the problems?
- Undelivered - The statement was never actually delivered.
- The only countries invited to the discussion were permanent and non-permanent members of the UNSC and officials briefing them.
- Neither does the UNSC take cognisance of statements by non-participating countries.
- Allegations against India - The statement appeared to be an exercise by Pakistan in repeating its allegations against India.
- In the letter, Pakistan’s Ambassador sought to portray Pakistan as a victim of cross-border terrorism.
- The letter claimed that Pakistan decimated al-Qaeda in the region.
- The statement listed “four types of terrorism” Pakistan confronts, each of which was attributed to India.
What are the allegations?
- TTP - The first allegation included some of the attacks in Pakistan carried out by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
- According to Pakistan, TTP has been funded by an Indian terror syndicate based in Afghanistan.
- That claim has been rejected by the UNSC in part already.
- Hired mercenaries - Pakistan claimed that India has hired mercenaries to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
- Hindutva terrorism - It says that the policies of the Indian government amount to Hindutva terrorism.
- It gave specific references to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Ram temple construction.
- State terrorism - The oft-repeated one is about Indian government actions in Jammu and Kashmir which it refers to as state terrorism.
Does India have to worry about these allegations?
- India has described these allegations as preposterous and laughable.
- India need not worry about its reputation, given its acclaimed role in fighting terror and cooperating on the international stage to deny terrorists funding and safe haven.
- Pakistan has consistently done the opposite.
- It has been continuously grey-listed at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
- There are several names of Pakistani terror groups and individuals present in the U.N. terror lists.
What could India do?
- India should take the Pakistani attempt to build its case seriously.
- It should pre-empt its larger strategy of painting India in a poor light ahead of its tenure at the UNSC 2021-2022 and the upcoming scrutiny process at the FATF.
Source: The Hindu
