Jaishankar's veiled attack on China & Pakistan at UN debate

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that multilateral platforms are being misused to justify and protect perpetrators of terrorism. In his address at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), he took a shrp swipe at China and Pakistan. He strongly hit back at Pakistan on Wednesday after it raised the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council, asserting that a country that hosted slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and attacked a neighbouring Parliament does not have the credentials to “sermonize" in the power UN organ. Jaishankar said that reform is the need of the day. "And I am confident that the Global South, in particular, shares India’s determination to persevere," he said.

Statement at UNSC Open Debate on Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism. https://t.co/SUwBR8X2af

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 14, 2022

Jaishankar's comments were made after Bilawal Bhutto termed Kashmir as an “unfinished agenda”. Speaking about what he defined as “democratisation required to empower UN”, he shared a clip of his address on Twitter and wrote: "Not expansion in the elitist club of permanent member, more authoritarian vote power. Of course Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of UNSC and a test of multilateralism.” Jaishankar said the credibility of the UN depends on its effective response to the key challenges of our times, be it pandemics, climate change, conflicts or terrorism. Foreign Minister also hit out at Beijing as he said: "On the challenge of terrorism, even as the world is coming together with a more collective response, multilateral platforms are being misused to justify and protect perpetrators." It was a tacit reference to China, which has placed holds and blocks on bids by India and the US on many occasions to list Pakistan-based terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.