Empty Rhetoric from the UN

The “proceedings” at the United Nations (UN) on the India Pakistan “situation” and calls for de-escalation went along expected lines. There were high-sounding phrases and “condemnation” of the terrorist attack at Pahalgam even as Pakistan’s request for a “closed door” session of the UN Security Council (UNSC) was acceded to. This double-faced move at “peace” was nothing more than an effort to put India on the mat.

Nothing came out of it.

Late on Monday night/early Tuesday, the UNSC did hold a closed door meeting but as is the case in such meetings, no release was issued at its conclusion. Pakistan did, however, try to give a spin to it by claiming that all its “objectives” were met. Asim Iftikhar, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN said in a press briefing that, “Several (UNSC) members recognised the imperative of peacefully resolving all issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with UNSC resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.”

None of the member countries who participated in the closed door meeting issued a statement, individually or collectively.

In the run-up to the meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had called up leaders of various member countries of the UNSC including the non-permanent ones.

At the same time, a spokesman for the UN Secretary General Antiono Guterres, said on Tuesday morning that, “Those responsible must be brought to justice through transparent, credible and lawful means.” This is a formulation that has been used by Pakistan in the past to evade any responsibility for terrorist attacks on Indian soil. The UN just took the Pakistani bait, hook, line and sinker.

The spokesman also offered the “good offices” of the UN Secretary General to both governments “in the service of peace.” India is least likely to take up the “offer.” These offers in the past have been nothing more than ham-handed attempts at “third party mediations” at the behest of Pakistan. These tired formulations—for which the UN is infamous—have been rejected time and again by India.

On his part Guterres offered the same formulation in different words. Posting on X, he condemned the Pahalgam attacks but then added “Make no mistake: A military solution is no solution.”

The Indian experience in these matters, at least for the past one decade, has been very different. Even short-term—one-off—military options against Pakistan buy it peace for years on an end. The 2016 surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot strike, both a response to terrorist attacks, led to a peaceful atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir, in direct contradiction to what Guterres stated. What India does now is for it to decide and not for UN officials sitting in the security of their chambers.

India-PakistanKashmirPahalgamterror attackUnited Nations