UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council to end the “dangerous stigmatisation of Islam and Muslims”, noting that all individuals listed on the Security Council’s terrorism sanctions are Muslims, while terrorists and violent extremists elsewhere escape scrutiny.
“It is not understandable, and is indeed unacceptable, that every name on the Security Council’s terrorism lists is Muslim, while terrorists and violent extremists elsewhere escape scrutiny. There is no non-Muslim in the lists,” Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar said during a UNSC meeting on “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”.
Pakistan’s Ambassador urged the need to make adequate changes to the sanctions regimes to incorporate new and emerging threats, and called for an “end to the stigmatisation of Islam and Muslims”.
“We must accept the reality. There has been a surge in the emergence of right-wing, extremist, and fascist movements in several countries and regions of the world, leading to terrorist violence.
“Yet, we see a strong inclination to see acts by non-Muslims not as terrorism, but often described just as violent crime,” remarked the Pakistan envoy.
Pakistan Urges Holistic Counter-Terrorism, Warns of Cross-Border & State-Sponsored Terrorism Threats
Our Press Release today pic.twitter.com/2ZBuL4mr3z
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) August 21, 2025
The diplomat further emphasised that the current situation stands in contradiction to the positions held by the United Nations and the UN Security Council, which affirm that terrorism is a global issue that must not be linked to any particular religion, nationality, civilisation, or ethnic group.
He said the situations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are the starkest examples where collective punishments against civilian populations, widespread grave violations of human rights, forced demographic changes, and fabricated counter-terrorism narratives and unlawful actions are being deployed by the occupation forces to prolong and sustain the illegal occupations.
“We must clearly distinguish between terrorism and the legitimate struggle of peoples against foreign occupation and for exercising their right to self-determination,” he said.
India’s involvement in sponsoring terrorism
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, speaking at the session, underscored that Pakistan’s principal adversary, India, has been actively involved in sponsoring terrorism within Pakistan, alleging that New Delhi funds and supports terrorist proxies.
“Indeed, terrorism within and from Afghanistan is the single most potent threat to that country, to the region, and the world,” he remarked, adding that the threat from various other terrorist groups, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch terror groups having sought refuge in ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan, remained unaddressed.
“For Pakistan, the danger is grave and immediate. The TTP, with nearly 6,000 fighters, is the largest UN-designated terrorist group, operating from Afghan soil.
“With safe havens close to our borders, it directly threatens our national security,” Iftikhar noted.
He further asserted that there is credible evidence of collaboration between the TTP, BLA, and the Majeed Brigade, including the sharing of terrorist training camps. These groups, he noted, have targeted Pakistan’s strategic infrastructure, economic projects, and, most tragically, its people.
Emphasising Pakistan’s firm stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, the envoy stated that few countries have contributed more to the success of global counter-terrorism efforts than Pakistan.
“Pakistan has been at the forefront on both counts — with 80,000 casualties and hundreds of billions of dollars in losses to our economy, Pakistan’s sacrifices are unmatched. So is our resolve to eliminate this menace,” he said.
He added that double standards and political agendas are themselves the oxygen for terrorism. “We can defeat terrorism by fighting it together and fighting it justly,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in conclusion.
