The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the “terrorist” attack in Indian Occupied Kashmir that killed 26 people, as the 15-member body also released Pakistan’s statement outlining its retaliatory countermeasures to New Delhi’s “reckless” steps announced in the wake of the April 22 incident.In a press statement, the Council members called for accountability and international cooperation to bring the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack to justice.

They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the Governments of India and Nepal, extending wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured in the attack. “Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” the Council members reaffirmed. They underscored that such acts are “criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”

The Council members urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities. They reaffirmed the need for States to “combat by all means” threats to international peace and security resulting from acts of terrorism, in accordance with the UN Charter and other obligations under international law. 

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council released the press statement issued at the conclusion of Pakistan’s National Security Committee meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, as an official document. The Pakistani statement contained the retaliatory decisions taken during the NSC’s deliberations. In a letter, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad transmitted the statement to the UN Security Council President for April, Jerome Bonnafont of France, on Friday.

“The letter has been issued as an official document of the Security Council under the Agenda Item ‘India-Pakistan Question’,” the Council President told the members of the Council. Among the countermeasures announced by the NSC was the suspension of trade and the closure of airspaces with India.India’s actions included the unilateral move to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, which was brokered by the World Bank and has endured through wars and decades of hostility between the two countries.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)