UNITED NATIONS INDIA strongly hit back at Pakistan in the UN General Assembly on Saturday, asserting that arguments by the “serial practitioner of terrorism” to normalise the scourge and claim immunity from its consequences will not stand. “Yesterday, a serial practitioner of terrorism misrepresented facts before this Assembly,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in his address to the General Debate at the high-level 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Without naming Pakistan and the address by its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the UN on Friday, Jaishankar said arguments were invoked to “normalise terrorism, and claim immunity from its consequences.” “That will not stand,” he stressed. “Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised,” Jaishankar said, asserting that “friendship and goodwill cannot co-exist with terrorism”. “And understandings premised on that will naturally be called into question.

 

It is for the perpetrator of terrorism to mend its ways,” he said. Jaishankar told world leaders that a persistent threat to peace has been the scourge of terrorism. “That this could be state-sponsored, with a cross-border purpose, makes it a direct affront to the global order,” he said. India called for Governments indulging in such practices to be held accountable. “There must be no dilution in our zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism. Its financial aspects, in particular, should be exposed and should be countered,” he said. Sharif had used the UN General Assembly podium to credit US President Donald Trump for his “timely intervention” in the 2025 conflict against India. In his about 23-minute address, Sharif also raised the issue of Kashmir in his address, saying that to ensure South Asia never reaches that precipice of the conflict of 2025 ever again, a just and fair solution of the Kashmir issue is required. Targeting of commercial shipping, seafarers ‘unacceptable’: EAM Jaishankar tells UNGA: INDIA on Saturday told world leaders in the UN General Assembly that targeting of commercial shipping and seafarers amid the ongoing conflict in the Gulf is “simply unacceptable”. “This year, we are witnessing a conflict in the Gulf, one that is exacerbating an already difficult situation.

 

We remain deeply concerned over continuing hostilities,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in his address to the General Debate at the high- level 81st session of the UN General Assembly. He said the targeting of commercial shipping and seafarers transiting international waterways is “simply unacceptable”. “India calls upon all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, ensure protection of civilians, and uninterrupted flow of energy and commerce,” Jaishankar said. He emphasised that new challenges in the maritime domain have added to longstanding ones on land. “There have been attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers in the Gulf, and from the Red Sea to the Black Sea. Indian seafarers have lost their lives, as indeed have others from other nations. This is completely unacceptable,” Jaishankar said. He told the high-level UNGA session that India has joined Liberia and 23 other partners in an initiative to rally global public opinion against such unwarranted targeting.

 

“We must ensure that the safety and security of shipping and seafarers is never compromised. Scrupulously observing international law is an integral element of that endeavour.” India and Liberia announced on Friday the establishment of the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers, a landmark maritime initiative launched amid continued attacks on commercial shipping. At the group’s establishment, Jaishankar listed recent attacks against maritime vessels and seafarers, including that on an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier MV Cape Dao in the Gulf of Oman, in which an Indian sailor lost his life. Earlier, a Panama-flagged oil tanker El Gaia was struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. An Indian crew member went missing after that incident. Amid ongoing global conflicts, merchant shipping and seafarers are facing increased risks in various regions, including the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab-el-Mandeb, Black Sea, and Somalia. A significant number of Indian seafarers serve onboard both Indian-flagged and foreign-flagged vessels operating in or transiting through these regions, exposing them to associated maritime security risks.