Tharoor’s praise for Jaishankar after India abstains on UN resolution

Former diplomat and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor praised external affairs minister S Jaishankar for India’s stance on a UN resolution establishing humanitarian exemption across all United Nations sanctions regimes.

India abstained on the resolution tabled by the US and Ireland to create a sanctions carve-out that exempted humanitarian efforts, asserting that blacklisted terror groups, including in its neighbourhood, have taken full advantage of such carve-outs and have been able to raise funds and recruit fighters.

India, currently presiding over the UN Security Council, was the sole abstention while all other 14 members of the Council voted in favour of the resolution.

Delivering the explanation of vote, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said that “our concerns emanate from proven instances of terrorist groups taking full advantage of such humanitarian carve-outs, and making a mockery of sanction regimes, including that of the 1267 Sanctions Committee.”

In a veiled reference to Pakistan and the terror outfits based on its soil, Kamboj said, “there have also been several cases of terrorist groups in our neighbourhood, including those listed by this Council, re-incarnating themselves as humanitarian organisations and civil society groups precisely to evade these sanctions.”

Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) calls itself a humanitarian charity but is widely seen as a front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET). Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a charity run by terror outfits JuD and LeT, and Al Rehmat Trust, backed by another terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are also based in Pakistan.

“These terrorist organisations use the umbrella of the humanitarian assistance space to raise funds and recruit fighters,” she said.

“India will call for caution and due diligence to be exercised while extending humanitarian assistance to proscribed entities under 1267, who continue to thrive with full state hospitality in territories universally acknowledged as terrorist havens by the international community,” she said.

“More importantly, such exemptions must not facilitate the ‘mainstreaming’ of terror entities in the political space in our region. Due diligence and extreme caution in the implementation of this resolution, therefore is an absolute must,” she said.

Reacting to India’s explanation of vote, Tharoor said he fully agrees with the country’s reservations that prompted its abstention.

“While understanding the humanitarian concerns behind the resolution, I agree fully with India’s reservations that prompted its abstention,” Tharoor said in a tweet. “We don’t have to look far across the border for evidence to substantiate @ruchirakamboj’s words. Well done, @IndiaUNNewYork @DrSJaishankar.”