Washington, D.C.: Senior Congress chief Shashi Tharoor has said that India is not friendless within the United Nations Safety Council (UNSC), and that Pakistan’s appointments as Chair of the Taliban Sanctions Committee and Vice-Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee for 2025 can have no sensible influence.
Main a multi-party parliamentary delegation to the US, Tharoor emphasised that these committees function by consensus, and no chairperson can act unilaterally to push agendas that lack broader help. “These committees operate on the premise of consensus. A md can not on his personal push ahead any initiative that others oppose or which displays a partisan ideology,” Tharoor mentioned throughout a dialogue on the Indian Embassy on Thursday.
Pakistan, serving as a non-permanent UNSC member for the 2025–26 time period, will head the Taliban Sanctions Committee and function vice-chair of the 15-member Counter-Terrorism Committee. Guyana and Russia have been named vice-chairs of the 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee, whereas Algeria will chair the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee, with France and Russia as vice-chairs.
India has repeatedly urged the worldwide neighborhood to pay attention to the truth that most UN-designated terrorists and terror organizations discover protected haven in Pakistan. Notably, al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had been hiding for years in Abbottabad, Pakistan, till he was killed in a U.S. Navy SEAL operation in 2011.
Responding to a query from PTI-Bhasha about Pakistan’s position within the committees, Tharoor clarified that the us has six counter-terrorism our bodies, and it’s routine for member states to chair them throughout their phrases. “Whereas Pakistan is within the Council, such roles might come to them. However we aren’t remoted within the Safety Council. We’re assured that these positions won’t translate into any actual consequence,” he mentioned, including that India’s Everlasting Mission to the UN is carefully monitoring the developments.
Tharoor remarked, “I don’t understand how the Afghans really feel about Pakistan heading the Taliban committee,” throughout a press briefing on the embassy.
He additionally famous that UNSC presidency rotates month-to-month, and plenty of members play necessary roles. “We now have mates within the Council and its committees.”
The Indian delegation, which reached New York on Could 24, had earlier visited Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, and arrived in Washington on Tuesday for the ultimate leg of their tour. The group, nonetheless, didn’t go to the UN Headquarters in New York.
Members of the Indian delegation embody MPs Sarfaraz Ahmad (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Ganti Harish Madhur Balyogi (Telugu Desam Get together), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Tejasvi Surya (BJP), and former Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Taranjit Sandhu.
The delegation held a major assembly with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, which Tharoor described as “significant.”
Coincidentally, a Pakistani parliamentary delegation led by Pakistan Individuals’s Get together (PPP) chairman and former International Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was additionally within the U.S. on the identical time. Bhutto met with UN Secretary-Normal António Guterres and ambassadors from UNSC member states, as a part of Pakistan’s push to internationalize the Kashmir difficulty and escalate its narrative on army tensions with India.
Tripathi famous that a number of international locations reaffirmed their help for India’s bid for a everlasting seat on the us throughout the delegation’s visits.
Ambassador Sandhu remarked that Pakistan’s new roles in UNSC committees present a take a look at to see whether or not it should deal with counter-terrorism severely. “It additionally sheds mild on how a lot actual authority Pakistan’s army institution has handed to Bhutto and his delegation,” Sandhu mentioned.