External affairs minister S Jaishankar took a tacit swipe at Pakistan and China on Wednesday while delivering a speech at the UN Security Council on reforming multilateral platforms, saying such bodies are being “misused to justify and protect perpetrators” of terrorist acts.
Jaishankar is in New York to preside over two high-level events focused on reformed multilateralism and counter-terrorism during India’s rotational presidency of the UN Security Council for December.
Though Jaishankar did not name any countries, there was little doubt who his remarks were aimed at. “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,” he said.
China has blocked joint moves by India and the United States to sanction five terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at the UN Security Council this year by using the so-called “technical hold”.
While emphasising the need for reforms of multilateral bodies, Jaishankar also referred to the failure of developed countries to deliver on their commitments for climate transition. “When it comes to climate action and climate justice, the state of affairs is no better. Instead of addressing the relevant issues in the appropriate forum, we have seen attempts at distraction and diversion,” he said.
The ministerial open debate on the theme of ‘New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism [NORMS]’, he said, is an opportunity for an “honest conversation” about the effectiveness of multilateral institutions created more than 75 years ago. Though the issue of equitable representation and increase in membership of the Security Council has been on the UN General Assembly’s agenda for more than three decades, little has changed on the ground, he added.
{{/usCountry}}The ministerial open debate on the theme of ‘New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism [NORMS]’, he said, is an opportunity for an “honest conversation” about the effectiveness of multilateral institutions created more than 75 years ago. Though the issue of equitable representation and increase in membership of the Security Council has been on the UN General Assembly’s agenda for more than three decades, little has changed on the ground, he added.
{{/usCountry}}The call for change has been accelerated by growing stresses on the international system, he said, pointing to the “knock-on effects of conflict situations”. In an obvious reference to the Ukraine war, he said concerns over food, fertilisers and fuel security “were not adequately articulated in the highest councils of decision making”.
Countries from Latin America, Africa and Asia and small island developing states should have “credible and continuing representation” in the UN Security Council, whose working methods and processes should be made “more accountable, objective and transparent”, Jaishankar said.
Criticising the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) framework for reform of the UN for not having any time-frame and for conducting negotiations without any text, Jaishankar said: “Three decades since the formation of the Open-Ended Working Group on UNSC Reforms, we have nothing to show, for precisely these reasons.”
On Thursday, Jaishankar will preside over a high-level briefing on the theme “Global approach to counter-terrorism - Challenges and way forward”.