New Delhi [India], May 6 : India's Former Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Syed Akbaruddin, said on Tuesday that Pakistan's effort at grandstanding has "faltered, flopped" as there was no presidential statement, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) President's oral statement or a resolution passed following the closed-door UNSC meeting held after Pakistan had made the request for it on tensions with India.
In an interview with ANI, Akbaruddin noted that Pakistan's quest to use multilateral organisations to attract global attention is not new and recalled attempts made by Islamabad previously. He stated that Pakistan's arguments on the Indus Waters treaty or about an imminent attack received no attention from members during the UNSC meeting.
When asked about adverse comments made by members when Pakistan raised the issue during the UNSC meeting, he responded, "Pakistan's quest to use multilateral organisations to attract global attention is not new. We have seen that on many occasions. This time, what it tried was to use an agenda item which has not been used formally in 60 years, the India-Pakistan question. The India-Pakistan question was last discussed in a formal meeting in 1965. So, Pakistan thought that perhaps it could use a channel of this sort to try and bring the issue between India and Pakistan onto the front burner. Alas, this is only grandstanding; we know that Pakistan focuses on public diplomacy rather than serious negotiations."
"It uses all platforms primarily to project its image within the country and not outside. So, the effort, as has previous efforts, has altered. the grandstanding did not work, and what happened was that once Pakistan made its case, there was no outcome, which means that the council refused to buy its case. That's a fairly substantial setback for any country that has been working with the 15 countries for several months, but finds that what it wants is not being accepted by them, because if something was accepted, what happens is usually the president of the Security Council walks out. This is the lowest form of response. The president walks out and makes an oral statement, reading out a few points, but there is no such oral statement."
Recalling what happened when Pakistan tried to raise the issue of Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, he said, "It reminds me of 2019 when, after Article 370 was abrogated, Pakistan again tried to say that this happened inside and that happened inside, and then we had to respond to it. So, my take is it's pretty simple. Pakistan's effort at grandstanding has faltered. It has flopped in fact, and they're making the best of a bad bargain where they couldn't get any purchase among the 15 members and are now trying to sell it for their domestic audience. You would have noticed that they did not even answer a single question from the media because everything would have come out and that's the sad reality of Pakistan's place in the international community today that nobody takes their view into account and there is no resonance for their nuclear bogey or Indus Waters treaty argument or argument about an imminent attack. All three were made repeatedly in the council with no traction."
The UNSC members raised tough questions for Pakistan at its informal closed-door session on Monday, sources in New York told ANI. The 15-nation Security Council held deliberations on Monday afternoon amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan.
There was no statement published by the UN body following the "closed consultations" that were requested by Pakistan. The members refused to accept the "false flag" narrative planted by the Pakistani side and asked whether the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a proscribed terror organisation with deep ties to Pakistan, was likely to be involved in the terror attack.
When asked whether Pakistan has lost credibility as there was no statement released following the UNSC meeting, Syed Akbaruddin said, "It's not a statement, but an oral statement. A written statement is much higher, not even an oral statement, or a few points to the press were made. So, you can see that's the lowest form of response. Let me tell you, in the Security Council, the way the responses work is highest is a resolution, after that a presidential statement, a press statement, and the last format is an oral statement by the president of the Security Council to the press. None of these four modalities came into being. So, you can see that it has failed to gain any purchase of a limited nature, also, despite all its efforts."
India's Former Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva said that he is not surprised as Pakistan faced tough questions during the meeting as he is aware about Pakistan is not a credible interlocutor and everybody knows it is aiming at grandstanding at not seriously advancing negotiations.
When asked whether he was surprised as Pakistan was asked tough questions by the members during the UNSC meeting, or was it a writing on the wall, Syed Akbaruddin said, "So, the writing on the wall is pretty obvious. I'm not surprised because I'm aware of Pakistan's standing in the Committee of Nations. It's not a credible interlocutor because everybody knows it's aiming at grandstanding, not at seriously advancing negotiations or de-escalating through engagement. So, for 50 years he's been trying."
"So, as I told you, the last time this issue was discussed at the Security Council in a formal meeting was 1965. 60 years have passed, and Pakistan has not been able to get this back onto the agenda and discuss it in a formal meeting. Even in an informal meeting, it could not get traction. So, I rest my case beyond that, I think the Indian diplomacy has been able to thwart these efforts by Pakistan, it's not surprising because the world recognises who is in the right and who is in the wrong in this instance and we need to congratulate our diplomats for their quiet but efficient way in which they have managed to thwart one more effort of Pakistan at the United Nations," he added.
According to sources, there was broad condemnation of the terrorist attack and recognition of the need for accountability during the meeting. Some members specifically brought up the targeting of tourists based on their religious faith.
Many members expressed concern that Pakistan's missile tests and nuclear rhetoric were escalatory factors. Pakistan's efforts to internationalise the situation also failed. They were advised to sort out the issues bilaterally with India.
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