External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on Monday (US local time) inaugurated a powerful exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York titled “The Human Cost of Terrorism”, bringing attention to the urgent global need to confront and eradicate terrorism in all its forms.
In his address at the exhibition, Jaishankar underscored the devastating human toll of terrorism and asserted that the world must unite against terrorism with an iron fist, taking a stand against impunity for terrorists, state sponsorship, and nuclear blackmail.
“Terrorism is one of the greatest threats to humanity. It is the antithesis of everything that the UN stands for, human rights, rules and norms, and how nations should conduct their dealings with each other. When terrorism is supported by a state against a neighbour, when it is fuelled by the bigotry of extremism, when it drives a whole host of illegal activities, it is imperative to call it out publicly. And one way of doing so is to display the havoc that it has wreaked on global society,” said Jaishankar.
Referencing the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of Indian security personnel and civilians, Jaishankar noted the United Nations Security Council’s strong condemnation of the incident.
“Five weeks ago, the United Nations Security Council issued a strong condemnation of a particularly horrific act of terrorism in Pahalgam. It demanded that its perpetrators be held accountable and brought to justice. We have since seen that happen. What that response underlines is the larger significance of the message of zero tolerance for terrorism. The world must come together on some basic concepts: no impunity to terrorists, no treating them as proxies, and no yielding to nuclear blackmail.”
India responded to the attack by launching Operation Sindoor on May 7, in which the Indian Armed Forces conducted targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The operation reportedly resulted in the elimination of over 100 terrorists associated with groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Jaishankar concluded,
“Any state sponsorship must be exposed and must be counted. By now, we know well that terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere. Let that understanding guide our collective thinking and response. This exhibition is a fitting reminder of the challenge before us.”
The exhibition is being held alongside Jaishankar’s official visit to the United States, where he is participating in the QUAD Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Earlier, during a press briefing on Thursday, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that the QUAD Summit aims to “advance a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific.”
The QUAD — comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the United States — is a key diplomatic partnership formed in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and is now committed to ensuring a stable, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific.