‘Shameful there are countries blocking action on terrorists at UNSC’: Chris Lu

Ambassador Christopher Lu didn’t name any countries, but it has to be noted that China has blocked five proposals by India and the US to sanction Pakistan-based terrorist leaders since June this year

The US shares India’s concerns about bringing Pakistan-based perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice and it is “shameful” that New Delhi and Washington’s efforts to sanction terrorists at the UN Security Council are being blocked, a top US diplomat has said.

Ambassador Christopher Lu said ensuring the prosecution of those behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks is a ‘high priority’ for the US since six Americans were among those killed in the carnage. (Twitter/U.S. Consulate Mumbai)

Ambassador Christopher Lu, who headed the US delegation that joined the special meeting of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) hosted by India last week, said ensuring the prosecution of those behind the 26/11 attacks is a “high priority” for the US since six Americans were among those killed in the carnage in India’s financial hub.

Lu, appointed the US representative to the United Nations for UN management and reform earlier this year, emphasised that the Ukraine conflict had highlighted the need for changes in the Security Council to make the body more effective. He said “friends like the US and India” can disagree on the war in Ukraine issue, though Washington has been encouraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent messages for ending the conflict and returning to diplomacy and dialogue.

“We certainly, as [US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a video message to the CTC meeting], share India’s concerns about bringing the perpetrators of the 2008 attacks to justice. We think through these designations at the UN, we can help do that,” Lu said in an exclusive interview.

“It is unfortunate that all countries don’t share our belief, but like so many other current issues in the UN Security Council, there are countries that are blocking meaningful action in providing better security around the world...But it is, frankly, I think shameful that there are countries that are blocking action on this important issue,” he said.

Though Lu didn’t name any countries, China has blocked five proposals by India and the US to sanction Pakistan-based terrorist leaders since June this year. Among these leaders were top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives Abdul Rehman Makki, Talha Saeed and Sajid Mir, who planned and directed the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The assault on India’s financial hub was carried out by a 10-member LeT team.

Lu said Indian and American law enforcement officials are working closely to ensure the prosecution of those responsible for the attacks but acknowledged the task is “challenging”. He said, “It’s a high priority to our country, given the fact that six Americans died in those attacks...India is one of our closest partners, we will continue working all possible means to ensure that justice is done.”

Asked if China’s use of the “technical hold” to block terrorist listings should be part of UN reforms, Lu replied: “We are committed at the UN to ensure that it fits the needs of the 21st century. I think we have seen...most prominently with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s veto of resolutions, that reform is needed to ensure...that the Security Council can do its effective work. And I do think this is an issue that needs to be examined.”

Responding to a question on the divergent approaches adopted by the US and India to the Ukraine conflict and India’s abstention of Ukraine-related votes and resolutions at UN bodies, Lu said the US believes the core principle of the UN Charter is territorial integrity.

“And when a country like Ukraine is attacked by its neighbour, there can be no sitting on the sidelines. Friends like the US and India can disagree on this issue. But we are going to continue to make this case about why,” he said.

At the same time, he said that “India’s voice on this matter is so important” and the US has been “encouraged by some of the messages that in particular have come out from Prime Minister Modi on this”. He added, “We think India can play an important role in ending this tragedy that’s happening right now in Ukraine.”

In conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Modi has backed the immediate end of hostilities and a return to dialogue. At a meeting with Putin on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan last month, Modi nudged the Russian leader to end the invasion by telling him that “today’s era is not of war”.

Lu said India and the US are working closely on reforms at the UN in areas ranging from peacekeeping to expansion of the Security Council. “We believe the Security Council...is based on the world as it existed in 1946...That is not the way the world currently looks right now. So we are open to and supportive of an expansion of the Security Council, of adding additional permanent and non-permanent members, ensuring greater geographical representation to ensure that it is as effective and credible a body as it can be,” he said.