‘All is not well’: S Jaishankar's reminder to UN as he slams Pakistan over TRF move
Though S Jaishankar didn't directly name Pakistan, it was abundantly clear from his remarks that he was referring to that country.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said “all is not well” with the United Nations, pointing to the body’s “increasingly polarised” debates and “visibly gridlocked” functioning, and stressed that meaningful reforms have been long obstructed, often through the reform process itself.
Speaking at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the UN, Jaishankar cited Pakistan’s move at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to protect the terror group that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack as a striking example of the challenges confronting multilateral institutions.
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“Few examples are more telling about the challenges facing the UN than its response to terrorism. When a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organisation that claims responsibility for the barbaric terror attack such as at Pahalgam, what does it do to the credibility of multilateralism,” Jaishankar said.
‘All is not well with the UN’
Without naming Pakistan, the minister’s remarks were seen as a direct reference to Islamabad, which is currently a member of the UNSC. Officials have said Pakistan had attempted to remove references to The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), from a UNSC press statement condemning the Pahalgam terror attack.
Jaishankar said “any meaningful reform is obstructed using the reform process itself", and maintaining the UN while simultaneously reinventing it is one of the biggest global challenges today.
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“Similarly, if victims and perpetrators of terrorism are equated in the name of global strategy, how much more cynical can the world get. When self-proclaimed terrorists are shielded from the sanctioning process, what does it say for the sincerity of those involved,” he said.
UN’s relevance under question
The minister further said the UN has failed to effectively address pressing global concerns, including security, development, and equitable progress.
“If the maintenance of international peace and security has become lip service, the predicament of development and socio-economic progress is even more serious,” he said, noting that the slowdown in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Agenda 2030 reflects the “distress of the Global South".
He added that inequities in trade, supply chains, and political domination further highlight the need for urgent reforms.
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“Yet, on such a notable anniversary, we cannot abandon hope. However difficult, the commitment to multilateralism must remain strong. However flawed, the United Nations must be supported in this time of crisis,” Jaishankar said.
The UNSC currently has 15 members, including five permanent ones, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. Pakistan chaired the Council in July this year.
