United Nations, Sep 25 (IANS): External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar underscored the urgent need for collective global action against terrorism while addressing the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting on Thursday. Without directly naming “Operation Sindoor,” India’s counter-terror strike earlier this year, he made it clear that those fighting terrorism are serving not just their own nations but the international community at large.
“Terrorism remains a persistent threat to development and peace. Given the extensive networking among terrorists, those who act against them on any front render a larger service to the international community as a whole,” he said, emphasizing that the world must show “neither tolerance nor accommodation” to such activities.
The minister also took aim at global double standards, particularly in the context of sanctions imposed over the Ukraine conflict. While refraining from naming specific countries, Jaishankar noted that restrictive measures had disrupted supplies and logistics, driving up costs and creating fresh pressure points for vulnerable economies. “Double standards are clearly in evidence,” he said, warning that undermining development only makes peace more elusive.
Highlighting the role of neutral states, Jaishankar suggested that countries with the ability to engage both sides in a conflict could be instrumental in achieving and sustaining peace. India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has consistently called for dialogue, with Modi personally urging both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue a peaceful resolution, stressing that this is “not the time for war.”
Drawing a link between conflict and economic fragility, Jaishankar observed that rising prices of energy, food, and fertilizers — worsened by wars in Ukraine and Gaza — have disproportionately hurt the Global South. He further called for urgent reforms in the multilateral system, stating that institutions like the United Nations have shown clear limitations in addressing contemporary challenges, from terrorism to economic crises.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, echoing the call for renewed cooperation, urged member states to rebuild trust in international institutions. “Let us work together to reaffirm peace as the surest path to sustainable economic development, and multilateralism as the anchor of a safer, fairer future for all,” he said.
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