India at UN says Pakistan masks terror support with Masood Azhar reward

India on Wednesday used its Right of Reply at the United Nations to accuse Pakistan of trying to hide its state support for terrorism through public messaging, including by announcing rewards for Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. India said the world has not forgotten the 9/11, 26/11 and Pahalgam attacks.

Responding to Pakistan's statement in the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly on the agenda item, Measures to Eliminate Terrorism, India's First Secretary in the Permanent Mission to the UN, Raghoo Puri, said terrorism cannot be defeated by declarations alone and requires action against its perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors.

"Pakistan speaks of combating terrorism while seeking to obscure the very question that this committee must confront: What happens when terrorists are financed, facilitated, trained, sheltered, or supported from the territory of a state?" Puri said. He added that Pakistan has long projected itself as a frontline state against terrorism and as a victim, while "masking the fact that the Frankensteins the Pakistani state has created and lost control over have moved from wreaking havoc in neighbouring countries to doing the same in Pakistan".

Puri said Pakistan "glosses over its state support for terrorism by announcing enhanced rewards for apprehending UN-listed head of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist and mastermind of several attacks against my country, Masood Azhar". He said the world is aware of Pakistan's financial support to terrorism and recalled that only a few months ago, Pakistani representatives had described the Jaish-e-Mohammed as a defunct organisation. "The world has seen the script play earlier, and we are clear-eyed that this time also it is going to be no different," he said. Referring to reports on Azhar, he added that when the media can reach him and get confirmation from him about the success of Operation Sindoor, "surely the Pakistani state knows his whereabouts".

Earlier this month, India had dismissed as "gimmicks" Pakistan's fresh announcement of a bounty of seven million rupees on Azhar and asked Islamabad to take "concrete action" against terrorism. India has for years accused Pakistan of sheltering Azhar, while Pakistan has maintained that he fled to Afghanistan, a claim rejected by the Taliban government. For the last few years, Islamabad has claimed that the JeM founder has been operating from Afghanistan, but a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official said he is not in the country.

Islamabad's fresh reward announcement came as it faces pressure from the Financial Action Task Force to act against terror groups and their leadership. The Paris-based watchdog is due to review Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts at its upcoming plenary. Pakistan was on the FATF grey list from 2018 to 2022 for systemic deficiencies in anti-money laundering and for failing to counter terror financing.

Puri also referred to a recent statement by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had said, "The unfortunate thing is that the threat [Punjab] faces comes less from my neighbouring countries and more from my neighbouring provinces." Calling it a "dark secret", Puri said, "You cannot run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. Reality never works like that." He added, "When terrorist groups are allowed to operate under state political power, international commitments become meaningless and when perpetrators are provided safe havens, the victims of terrorism are denied justice."

He said, "The world has not forgotten 9/11 and where its perpetrators, including Osama bin Laden, were caught. The world has not forgotten 26/11. The world has not forgotten Pahalgam," adding that the list is "painfully long". Referring to the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Puri said the victims were not asked about their political views but about their religion, and called it deeply ironic that Pakistan speaks of combating religious hatred while allowing conditions that enable it to survive, "especially by fomenting cross-border terrorism". In May last year, India had launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the attack by The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed.

Puri also said, "Pakistan continues with its narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation. If bombed-out airfields and cratered runways look like victory to Pakistan, they are of course welcome to enjoy it." He added, "Any regime against terrorism to be effective must do two things: assign responsibility and ensure accountability. India will defend its people, and continued terrorism against India will have consequences." In another Right of Reply, he said India rejected Pakistan's "circular economy" of words and narratives, adding, "If this much effort had actually been made in countering terrorism rather than narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation, the world would have been a better place. But nothing more can be expected from a Form 47 government." Overall, India used its intervention to say Pakistan must be judged by action against terror groups and their leaders, not by its claims at international forums.

With PTI Inputs

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