United Nations, January 26
Perpetrators of the heinous 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks continue to enjoy Pakistan’s patronage, India has told the UN Security Council, saying that most terrorist attacks around the world have their origin, in some form or the other, in that country.
India strongly hit back at Pakistan after Islamabad’s envoy to the UN Munir Akram raked up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during a UNSC Open Debate on ‘Protection of civilians in armed conflict: Wars in cities – protection of civilians in urban settings’ on Tuesday.
“Member states are well aware that Pakistan has an established history of harbouring, aiding and actively supporting terrorists. This is a country which has been globally recognised as a sponsor of terrorism and holds the ignoble record of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the UN Security Council,” Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN R Madhu Sudan said.
“So much so that most terrorist attacks around the world today have their origin, in some form or the other, in Pakistan,” he said. His statement came days after a siege at a synagogue in Texas, US, that ended with the killing of British hostage taker of Pakistani heritage, Malik Faisal Akram.
Madhu Sudan said he is constrained to take the UNSC floor again, after India’s envoy TS Tirumurti had delivered the national statement at the debate, only because the Representative of Pakistan “chose to sully this august Council through his Pavlovian and frivolous remarks against my country. While his statement deserves our collective contempt, it is important for me to set the record straight.”
He said even as the Council is discussing protection of civilians at the meeting, the biggest threat to civilians comes from terrorists.
“As we mentioned earlier, the perpetrators of the heinous terror attack in Mumbai in 2008 continue to enjoy patronage of the state which he represents,” Madhu Sudan said, referring to the Pakistani envoy.
Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks. Saeed has been serving jail sentence at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, in Pakistan for his conviction in terror financing cases.
In his remarks earlier in the debate, Tirumurti said any debate on protection of civilians in urban areas would be incomplete without taking into account the carnage wrought by terrorist forces, especially those backed by state actors.
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