India on Friday strongly rebuked Pakistan at the United Nations, saying membership of the UN Security Council carries significant responsibility and should not be used to promote “biased and false narratives” on issues internal to other countries.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, made the remarks in the UN General Assembly after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, referred to Jammu and Kashmir during a discussion on the Security Council’s annual report.
Responding to Pakistan’s intervention, Harish said the reference to Jammu and Kashmir, a matter he described as strictly internal to India, had compelled him to reply.
“The unwarranted reference by Pakistan to a matter strictly internal to India, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has compelled me to respond,” Harish said.
He accused Pakistan of repeatedly misusing UN platforms to advance its political agenda and criticised its conduct as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
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“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,” he said.
“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 added.
Reiterating India’s position on Jammu and Kashmir, the envoy said the Union Territory “was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.
“Empty rhetoric and hollow claims by Pakistan would not change this fundamental reality,” he said.
Harish also used the opportunity to press for reforms of the Security Council, arguing that its present structure no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.
“The current structure reflects geopolitical realities of 1945. Retaining the status quo has so far not enabled effective functioning of the Security Council and cannot do so in future,” he said.
He stressed that meaningful reform would require expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership categories.
India is part of the G4 grouping, along with Brazil, Germany and Japan, which advocates expanding the Security Council from its current 15-member structure to 25 or 26 members.
Pakistan is currently serving a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, which is due to end later this year.
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