New Delhi: Just over a week after China blocked the UN listing of a Pakistan-based militant, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar alluded to Beijing’s action during his address before the UN General Assembly (UNGA), asserting that those who defend terrorists “do so at their own peril”.
In a 16-minute speech at the UNGA plenary, Jaishankar said on Saturday that the United Nations’ response to terrorism has been through sanctioning the perpetrators, which has been thwarted by the politicisation of the critical UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions committee.
“Those who politicise the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes to the extent of defending proclaimed terrorists, do so at their own peril. Believe me, they advance neither their own interests nor indeed their reputation,” he said.
While he did not specifically name China, the finger-pointing was clear.
On September 15, China put a hold on the proposal moved jointly by India and the United States to sanction Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir at the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. If the UNSC panel had agreed to designate him as a global terrorist, Mir would have been subject to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
This was the third time China stopped a proposal to list a Pakistan-based terrorist this year. In August, China blocked the move to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar. Two months earlier, in June, China had also put a hold on the proposal to list Abdul Rehman Makki, a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
The Indian foreign minister also raised questions about China’s policy of extensive soft loans, which has led critics to claim that it has imposed a severe debt burden on developing African and Asian countries.
“Even while India contributes to global betterment, we recognise the sharp deterioration in the international landscape. The world is already struggling with the challenges of post-pandemic economic recovery. The debt situation of the developing world is precarious,” he said.
Jaishankar again brought up the debt issue in the context of regional concerns. “While the global attention has been on Ukraine, India has also had to contend with other challenges, especially in its own neighbourhood. Some of them may be aggravated by the COVID pandemic and ongoing conflicts; but they speak too of a deeper malaise. The accumulation of debt in fragile economies is of particular concern,” the minister said.
India’s southern neighbour, Sri Lanka, is going through the country’s worst economic crisis since independence. While China is Colombo’s largest bilateral creditor, market borrowings account for the largest chunk of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt.
In his UNGA speech, Jaishankar also took potshots at Pakistan, but again without taking names. “Having borne the brunt of cross border terrorism for decades, India firmly advocates a ‘zero tolerance’ approach. In our view, there is no justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of motivation. And no rhetoric, however sanctimonious, can ever cover up blood stains,” he said.
On the Ukraine issue, he repeated that New Delhi would support a peaceful solution based on UN Charter.
“As the Ukraine conflict continues to rage, we are often asked whose side are we on. And our answer, each time, is straight and honest. India is on the side of peace and will remain firmly there. We are on the side that respects the UN Charter and its founding principles. We are on the side that calls for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out,” he said.
Jaishankar also referred to the spiralling economic costs of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We are on the side of those struggling to make ends meet, even as they stare at the escalating costs of food, of fuel and fertilisers. It is therefore in our collective interest to work constructively, both within the United Nations and outside, in finding an early resolution to this conflict,” stated the minister.