UNSC calls for bringing Dasu attack perpetrators to justice

Urges states to ‘actively cooperate’ with Pakistan, China

ISLAMABAD:

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has urged all states to cooperate with Pakistan’s government in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on Chinese and Pakistani nationals in Dasu.

In a press statement on Saturday, the UNSC “strongly condemned” the July 14 terrorist attack in Dasu in which nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis were killed and several others injured.

The member states of the Security Council expressed their “deepest sympathy” and condolences to the families of the victims and to the governments of Pakistan and China. They wished a speedy recovery to those who were injured. They reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace.

The members stressed the need for holding perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors of such acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. They urged all the states to “cooperate actively” with the governments of Pakistan and China, as well as all other relevant authorities in this regard in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions.

They reiterated that “any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”

The council 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.

Moreover, Pakistan welcomed the reiteration of the position of the world body on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute by the UN secretary-general spokesperson, saying that it reaffirmed the UN position on the longstanding dispute.

Read: Sino-Pak ties emerge stronger after Dasu test

“The statement reaffirms that UN position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is ‘well-established and has not changed,” Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in response to the statement by the UN Secretary General’s spokesperson.

He said that Pakistan appreciated the timeliness of the statement as it coincided with the completion of two years of India’s “illegal and unilateral actions” of 5 August 2019, in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that were in violation of the UN charter, UNSC resolutions and international law including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

“The statement denies the self-serving remarks by India’s permanent representative to the UN claiming that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India,” he said.

The spokesperson said that India would do well to remind itself that Jammu and Kashmir remained an “internationally recognised dispute and one of the longest outstanding items” on the UNSC’s agenda.

“It [Kashmir] never was and never will be a part of India. Regurgitation of false and fabricated claims does not change the reality,” he said.

He mentioned that numerous UNSC resolutions had established that the final disposition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir would be made in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people expressed through the democratic method of an impartial plebiscite held under the UN auspices.

“Ultimately, India will have to give in to the will of the Kashmiris and the commitment of international community as enshrined in numerous UNSC resolutions,” he said.