"You Can't Defend The Indefensible": India's Ex UN Envoy On Pak

India's former top diplomat Ruchira Kamboj has demolished Pakistan's lies on the global stage that it has no connection with terror attacks in India.

Ms Kamboj, the former permanent representative and ambassador of India to the United Nations, told NDTV today that Pakistan stood exposed "before the full glare of the international media" as the sponsor and enabler of terrorism.

"At the very outset, Pakistan has made India's task simpler by openly admitting before the full glare of the international media that they are the financiers, perpetrators and abettors of terrorism," she said.

Ms Kamboj's comments come as Indian diplomats and the leadership engaged in hectic communication with the global community at the United Nations to inform them of Pakistan's hand in state-sponsored terrorism.

"In the recent [informal] meeting of the UN Security Council, Pakistan did not get any support. On the contrary they were grilled at the meeting, and the question of accountability was raised. Nobody believed in Pakistan's narrative," she told NDTV, explaining India's huge win at the UN.

"The UN Secretary General unequivocally condemned Pakistan. You can't defend the indefensible. The world does not have an appetite for terror."

The killing of 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22 by terrorists with cross-border linkages led to India's decisive missile strikes at terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

To a question whether the US and Saudi Arabia, the longtime 'friends of Pakistan', would apply pressure on Pakistan to end sponsoring terror, Ms Kamboj said it is her hope that the world will continue to condemn this [Pakistan-sponsored terror] in the strongest terms.

"Today, it happened in India. But it can happen in any part of the world. Terrorism is a transnational issue. Importantly, the message that India sent is that there must be zero tolerance, terrorism is pure evil. This has been India's position," she said.

This was the same policy India had communicated when it headed a committee on security in the UN Security Council in 2022, the former diplomat said. She said the New Delhi Declaration which contained this policy was adopted "despite the polarisation of the times we live in". "So, the world feels very strongly against terror and it should be condemned in no unequivocal terms."

With making Pakistan accountable for supporting terror as the main goal, Ms Kamboj called for brining more diversity of voices at the UN Security Council.

"The role of international organisations is now at the proverbial inflection point unless we reform the system, bringing a greater diversity of voices particularly from the Global South, and address the opaque working methods of the UNSC including the misuse of veto [power]," Ms Kamboj said, alluding to China, which has always stood by Pakistan at the UN.

Only a representative and multilateral system can deliver justice in today's world, she added.

"We need new voices on the table. We need a council that is more representative so that this [veto misuse] doesn't happen that easily... While Pakistan may have been getting away with impunity, at the same time the informal meeting of the UNSC would have been a win for Pak, but it was a dramatic failure for them," Ms Kamboj said.

"While Pakistan may have got away quite a bit in the past, the world does recognise them for what they are. End of the day what is the UN? The UN is the sum total of its member states. And member states must have the will to act. That's where Indian diplomacy and leadership have been very active and we shall continue to do that," she said.