UNSC condemns Karachi terror attack; Pakistan blames India

The UN Security Council issued a strong condemnation of the “heinous and cowardly” terrorist attack against the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi on Monday after Islamabad blamed India for being behind the assault.

In a daring attack in the high-security area, four heavily armed terrorists attacked the PSX building, killing three security guards and a police officer before being shot dead by Pakistani law enforcement personnel.

Balochistan Liberation Army, a banned terror group operating out of Afghanistan, claimed responsibility.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi issued strong condemnatory statements, accusing India of sponsoring the attacks.  South Asian experts have noted India’s longtime links with the insurgent groups in Balochistan province, and the Indian commentators on news channels and security experts expressed joy at the attack. A former Indian general boasted of links with Balochistan separatist groups.

New Delhi has rejected Pakistani charges of Indian involvement.

An External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said “unlike Pakistan, India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world including in Karachi.”

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers, and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of Pakistan and all other relevant authorities in this regard,” the Council said in a statement.

The statement, which was adopted by consensus,  was prepared and circulated to the Council members by China to signal its support to Pakistan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the General Assembly President, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, and most of the Council members had already issued a denunciation of the attack that rocked the region at a tense time for geopolitical rivalries between China and India on the one hand and Pakistan and India no the other.

While China and India engaged in a stiff military standoff last month in the along the Line of Actural Control in Ladakh region, Pakistan and India have been shelling across the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region of the Himalayas, a strategically significant region for all countries.

The Council’s statement said, “The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of Pakistan and they wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

“The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

“The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. 

“They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.”