During a significant event marking the United Nations’ 80th anniversary on Friday, October 24, 2025, India delivered a sharp critique of the global organization’s current state. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar underscored how Pakistan’s efforts to shield a terror group—which openly claimed responsibility for the brutal Pahalgam attack—within the UN Security Council highlight the body’s fundamental failures and its urgent need for comprehensive reforms.
Minister Jaishankar did not mince words when he condemned the unacceptable practice of equating the victims of terrorism with its perpetrators, a tactic he described as a cynical ‘global strategy.’ This comment was implicitly directed at attempts to draw parallels between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of horrific terror incidents, thereby obscuring the clear distinction between the aggressor and the aggrieved.
These critical statements were made during a ceremony commemorating eight decades of the United Nations’ existence.
Delighted to launch a commemorative postage stamp today in New Delhi to mark the 80th anniversary of UN.
Congratulate India Post Office for successfully organising the open competition to design the commemorative stamp. The stamp rightly showcases the need for peace in this era… (Image of stamp)
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 24, 2025
Highlighting the deep-seated issues plaguing the UN, the External Affairs Minister stated unequivocally that “all is not well.” He observed that its debates are “increasingly polarized” and its operational mechanisms “visibly gridlocked,” preventing effective global action.
Jaishankar lamented that “any meaningful reform is obstructed using the reform process itself,” underscoring a paradoxical cycle. He emphasized that the global community faces the formidable challenge of both sustaining the UN’s existence and fundamentally reinventing it to meet contemporary demands.
He argued that nothing illustrates the UN’s profound challenges more starkly than its ineffective response to terrorism. Jaishankar questioned the credibility of multilateralism itself: “When a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organization that claims responsibility for a barbaric terror attack such as at Pahalgam, what does it do to the credibility of multilateralism?”
While Minister Jaishankar refrained from explicitly naming Pakistan, his remarks left no doubt that his criticism was directed at Islamabad’s actions.
(Embedded video discussing UN challenges)
He further challenged the international community: “Similarly, if victims and perpetrators of terrorism are equated in the name of global strategy, how much more cynical can the world get? When self-proclaimed terrorists are shielded from the sanctioning process, what does it say for the sincerity of those involved?” This pointed question highlighted profound hypocrisy.
It’s important to note that Pakistan is currently serving as a member of the UN Security Council, having also held the chairmanship of the influential global body in July.
The Security Council consists of 15 members; five are permanent—China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States—while ten non-permanent nations are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. The presidency rotates among members monthly.
The Pahalgam terror attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a known proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group. TRF’s involvement in this attack was explicitly detailed in a UN Security Council report issued in July.
According to official reports, Pakistan had actively sought to expunge any mention of TRF from the UN Security Council’s press statement that condemned the Pahalgam attack.
Throughout his address, Minister Jaishankar repeatedly implied that the UN has demonstrably failed to effectively tackle critical global issues.
He stressed that if the commitment to “maintenance of international peace and security has become lip service,” then the challenges related to global development and socio-economic progress are “even more serious” and dire.
Jaishankar pointed to the deceleration of the SDG Agenda 2030 as a crucial indicator of the severe distress currently experienced by the Global South. He cited additional factors exacerbating this distress, including restrictive trade measures, excessive supply chain dependencies, and various forms of political domination.
Despite these criticisms, Jaishankar concluded on a note of cautious optimism: “Yet, on such a notable anniversary, we cannot abandon hope. However difficult, the commitment to multilateralism must remain strong. However flawed, the United Nations must be supported in this time of crisis.”
He reminded the audience that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a universal blueprint aimed at fostering a better and more sustainable future for everyone.