India will act against terror: Jaishankar at UN
United Nations, Sep 26 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Saturday that India would exercise its right to defend itself against terrorism, accusing an unnamed country of misrepresenting facts at the UN General Assembly a day earlier.
“Yesterday, a serial practitioner of terrorism misrepresented facts before this assembly,” Jaishankar told the General Debate. “Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised.”
He did not name the country in the remarks provided. He said arguments had been made to normalise terrorism and claim immunity from its consequences. “That will not stand,” he said.
Jaishankar called state-sponsored terrorism with a cross-border purpose a direct challenge to the global order. Governments engaged in such practices must be held accountable, he said, and the financing of terrorism must be exposed and countered.
“Friendship and goodwill cannot coexist with terrorism,” he said, adding that the perpetrator must change its ways. He called for continued zero tolerance towards terrorism.
The warning formed one part of a wider speech on peace, development and the pressures facing poorer nations. Jaishankar said the world was seeing “a weaponisation of everything”, from finance and market access to supply chains and technology.
Countries were responding by reducing risks and diversifying their ties, he said. But the broader atmosphere was losing trust and goodwill.
He described a “4F crisis” confronting the Global South: the security of food, fuel, fertiliser and finance. A super El Nino, fertiliser shortages and impediments to grain movements were causes for alarm, he said. He also warned that non-market practices and restricted market access were undermining developing countries’ ability to industrialise.
Jaishankar said India’s growth and public services had improved the prospects of one-sixth of humanity. He pointed to digital public infrastructure as a means of delivering social and economic benefits, and said India was sharing its experience with partners abroad.
He cited 600 major Indian development projects in 78 countries, spanning infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, information technology and capacity building. African nations and small island developing states had been preferred partners, he said.
India had sent medical supplies to conflict zones and places hit by epidemics or natural disasters, Jaishankar said. He cited the Nepal flash floods and the Venezuela earthquake as instances when India responded early.
Turning to maritime security, he said attacks on commercial ships and seafarers in the Gulf and from the Red Sea to the Black Sea were unacceptable. Indian seafarers were among those who had lost their lives. India had joined Liberia and 23 other partners in an initiative to build opposition to such attacks, he said.
On artificial intelligence, Jaishankar said countries should be able to develop their own models and deployment plans in line with national priorities. India would make AI part of its partnership agenda with the Global South, he said.
He also pressed for reform of international institutions as the world becomes more multipolar. “Large sections of humanity cannot be excluded from that process,” he said. “The case for reformed multilateralism only gets stronger day after day.”
India has long called for changes to the UN Security Council, including a permanent seat for itself. The council’s structure still reflects the settlement reached after World War II.
The General Debate gives UN member states an annual opportunity to set out their positions on international issues. Jaishankar closed by invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s words: “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”
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