UNSC Membership Huge Responsibility, Not Forum for Peddling Biased, False Narratives: India Slams Pak

 India has slammed Pakistan for its “unwarranted reference” to Jammu and Kashmir at the UN, telling the current non-permanent member of the global body that it was a huge responsibility and not a forum for peddling “biased and false narratives”.

“The unwarranted reference by Pakistan to a matter strictly internal to India, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has compelled me to respond,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said on Friday.

The strong retort by Harish came after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in his remarks in the UN General Assembly on Friday on the ‘Annual Report of the Security Council’.

Pakistan, which constantly raises the issue of Jammu and Kashmir as well as other topics internal to India at various UN platforms, currently sits in the Security Council as a non-permanent member and its tenure will end this year.

Harish said in the UNGA hall that Pakistan has decided not to spare this forum either from their characteristic misuse of august UN platforms for their divisive political interests.

“Abuse of its presence on the Security Council by Pakistan, including through the circulation of several misinformed and misleading communications also testifies to this counter-productive approach. I would like to remind Pakistan that being a member of the UN Security Council is a huge responsibility. It is not a forum for peddling biased and false narratives,” Harish said.

Making it clear that Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India, Harish emphasised that any assertions to the contrary are baseless, devoid of and inconsistent with historical facts.

“Empty rhetoric and hollow claims by Pakistan would not change this fundamental reality. In the interest of time of the wider UN membership, I would not delve any further into this,” he said.

The Indian envoy also pointed out that the international community recognises the importance of reform of the Security Council to make it fit-for-purpose to handle contemporary and future challenges we face.

“The current structure reflects geopolitical realities of 1945. Retaining the staus quo has so far not enabled effective functioning of the Security Council and cannot do so in future,” he said.

He noted that the “marginal” reform in the 1960s that expanded only the non-permanent category has not changed the fundamental mode of functioning of the Security Council in any impactful manner.

“Expansion of both permanent and non-permanent categories is central to implementing real and meaningful reform,” he said.

The G4 nations of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have proposed that Security Council membership needs to be increased from the current 15 to 25 or 26, with a reformed Council consisting of 11 permanent members and 14 or 15 non-permanent members.

Currently, the powerful UN organ consists of five veto-wielding permanent members — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.

The remaining 10 members are elected to sit at the horseshoe table for two-year terms as non-permanent members. India last sat in the Council as a non-permanent member in 2021-22.