Coming to sanctioning dreaded terrorists, impunity facilitated in UNSC: India

STATE TIMES NEWS

United Nations: India said on Thursday that it is regrettable that in the UN Security Council, when it comes to sanctioning some of the world’s most dreaded terrorists, impunity is being facilitated and politics providing cover to evade accountability, in a veiled jibe at China which has blocked blacklisting of Pakistan-based terrorists on many occasions.
“The fight against impunity is critical to the larger pursuit of securing peace and justice. The Security Council must send an unambiguous and unequivocal message on this count,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the 15-nation UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine Fight against impunity’.

Don’t think reference to J&K at UN is helpful: India
New Delhi: India on Thursday said any reference to Jammu and Kashmir at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) was not useful or helpful as it needs to be resolved bilaterally in accordance with the Shimla Agreement.
Addressing the ongoing UNGA in New York Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “India and Pakistan, after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago, they still haven’t established peace and solidarity between one another. This is much unfortunate. We hope and pray that a fair and permanent peace and prosperity will be established in Kashmir.”
Responding to questions on the remarks made by the Turkish President, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said, “I don’t think reference to Jammu and Kashmir at the UNGA is useful or helpful”. In 2019, during an address at the general debate of the 74th Session of the General Assembly of the UN, Erdogan had said, “Despite the resolutions adopted (by the UNSC), Kashmir is still besieged and eight million people are stuck in Kashmir.”
Bagchi noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a meeting with the Turkish President on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit meeting in Samarkand last week. “As regards Jammu and Kashmir, our position is very clear. This issue needs to be resolved in the Shimla Agreement and bilaterally and also in a conducive atmosphere free of terrorism. I don’t think reference to Kashmir in UNGA is useful or helpful,” Bagchi said.

The briefing, chaired by French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, was held Thursday as world leaders gathered in the UN headquarters for the high-level 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
Addressing the Council briefing were UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly and Foreign Ministers of other UNSC members.
“Politics should never ever provide cover to evade accountability. Nor indeed to facilitate impunity. Regrettably, we have seen this of late in this very Chamber, when it comes to sanctioning of some of the world’s most dreaded terrorists, Jaishankar said, with China listening. “If broad daylight are left unpunished, this Council must reflect on the signals we are sending on impunity. There must be consistency if we are to ensure credibility, he said.
Bids by India, US and other western allies to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the Security Council’s sanctions regime have been blocked and put on hold on various occasions by Islamabad’s all-weather ally and veto wielding permanent member China in the 15-nation Council.
This month, China has put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by the US and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist.
It is learnt that Beijing put a hold on the proposal moved by the US and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
Last month, China had put a hold on a proposal by the US and India at the United Nations to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and a senior leader of the Pakistan-based terror organisation. Abdul Rauf, born in 1974 in Pakistan, was sanctioned by the US in December 2010.
In June this year, China had put a hold, at the last moment, on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
Jaishankar emphasised that even in conflict situations, there can be no justification for violation of human rights or of international law. “Where any such acts occur, it is imperative that they are investigated in an objective and independent manner, he said, adding that this was the position that India took with regard to the killings in Bucha.
“This is the position we take even today. The Council will also recall that we had then supported calls for an independent investigation into the Bucha incident, he said.
India had in April this year unequivocally condemned the “deeply disturbing” reports of civilian killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha and supported the call for an independent investigation, as it underlined that when innocent human lives are at stake, diplomacy must prevail as the only viable option.
Images and videos of people lying dead on the streets of Bucha, some with their hands tied behind them, had drawn global condemnation and calls for investigation and tougher actions against Russia.

egregious attacks committed in