Pakistan raises case of Kulbhushan Jadhav in UNSC debate

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan raked up the issue of Indian death-row prisoner and spy Kulbhushan Jadhav in the UN Security Council debate.

Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi was responding to Indian ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin who said Pakistan needs to change its “mindset” of differentiating between good and bad terrorists.

Lodhi raised the case of Jadhav, who was captured in March 2016 and sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for spying and causing unrest in the province of Balochistan.

“Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt,” Lodhi told the members of the UN Security Council, without naming Jadhav.

Earlier, the US told the UN Security Council that the status quo regarding terrorist safe havens in Pakistan is not acceptable and insisted that Islamabad join its efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict.

“We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot be successful if the status quo, where terrorist organisations are given sanctuary inside the country’s borders, is allowed to continue,” US deputy secretary of state John Sullivan told the ministerial meeting.

“Indeed, with its safe havens inside the country and income from the narcotics trade, the insurgency does not really need any outside assistance or support centers to sustain its efforts,” Lodhi said during a ministerial debate on Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan and its partners, especially the United States therefore need to address these challenges inside the country rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict on to others,” Pakistan’s envoy said.

“Those who imagine sanctuaries outside really need a reality check,” she said.