Jaishankar receives appreciation from Tharoor after India abstains from a UN resolution

Shashi Tharoor, a former diplomat and prominent member of the Congress, applauded S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, for India's position on a UN resolution establishing a humanitarian exemption across all United Nations sanctions regimes. India abstained from voting on the US and Irish-sponsored motion to create a sanctions carve-out that exempted humanitarian initiatives, claiming that proscribed terrorist organisations, including those in its neighbourhood, have fully utilised similar carve-outs to generate money and recruit fighters. 

The only member of the UN Security Council to not vote in favour of the resolution was India, which is presently in charge of the body.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, gave the explanation of the vote and stated that "our concerns stem 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."

"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," Kamboj said, making a covert reference to Pakistan and the terror groups operating out of its territory. 

Although Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) describes itself as a humanitarian organisation, many people believe it to be a cover for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET). In addition, two more terrorist organisations with Pakistani bases are Al Rehmat Trust and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), both supported by the JuD and LeT.

She claimed that these terrorist organisations recruit fighters and gather money under the guise of providing humanitarian relief.

India "would advocate for care and due diligence to be exercised in offering humanitarian assistance to proscribed entities under 1267, who continue to thrive with full state hospitality in territory generally acknowledged by the international community as terrorist havens," she said. 

More crucially, these exclusions must prevent the'mainstreaming' of terrorist organisations in our region's political sphere. Therefore, it is imperative that this resolution be implemented with care and extreme prudence," she stated.

In response to India's justification for its abstention, Tharoor stated that he fully supports the nation's concerns.

"I totally concur with India's misgivings, which led to its abstention, notwithstanding my understanding of the humanitarian grounds behind the resolution "According to Tharoor's tweet. "We don't need to travel very far across the border to find proof of @ruchirakamboj's assertions. Thank you, @DrSJaishankar @IndiaUNNewYork