India on Saturday strongly rebuked Pakistan at the UN, stressing that democracy is an "alien" concept for Islamabad, which continues to subject the people of its "illegally occupied territories" to grave human rights violations.
Responding to references made by Pakistan's envoy at the UN Security Council's open debate on 'The United Nations Organisation: Looking into the Future' on Friday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said, "The people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their fundamental rights in accordance with India's time-tested democratic traditions and constitutional framework."
"We, of course, know that these are concepts alien to Pakistan," he said.
Reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir "has been, is, and will always be" an integral part of India, Harish called on Pakistan to end its ongoing human rights violations in the occupied territories.
"We call upon Pakistan to end the grave and ongoing human rights violations in the areas illegally occupied by it, where the population is in open revolt against Pakistan's military occupation, repression, brutality and illegal exploitation of resources," he said.
Harish also emphasised that the UN must undertake "real, comprehensive reforms," saying that the 80-year-old Security Council architecture no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.
"An outdated Council architecture that mirrors the geopolitical realities of 1945 is not equipped to handle the challenges of 2025,"he said, calling for expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories through "time-bound" and "text-based negotiations."
Harish stressed the need for the Global South to have a greater voice in global decision-making, adding that "postponing reforms indefinitely does immense disservice to our citizens, especially in the Global South."
"This bloc of countries represents the overwhelming proportion of humanity and has its unique set of challenges, particularly in the areas of development, climate and financing," Harish said, adding that global decision-making must be more democratic and inclusive.
Highlighting India's commitment to multilateralism, he said the world must move beyond "pennies and posts" to craft a new vision for the UN that is more agile and responsive to global challenges such as pandemics, terrorism, economic instability, and climate change.
Harish noted that the world's largest multilateral body faces questions of "relevance, legitimacy, credibility, and efficacy."
He cautioned that international cooperation is increasingly being viewed as charity and that prosperity is being "ring-fenced amid shrinking access to resources and technologies necessary for growth."
He said progress that is not universal is "neither sustainable nor tenable in moral terms or on a practical basis."
Harish also called for making UN mechanisms more agile, noting that peacekeepers face "newer challenges every day" and need realistic mandates, adequate resources, and technological support.
"Structural adjustments of different UN bodies are welcome, but not enough," he said, urging that UN80, the 80th anniversary of the organisation, should aim for "real, comprehensive reforms of the UN and its principal organs."
Harish further emphasised the need to revitalise the General Assembly as the UN's principal deliberative and policymaking body, enhancing coordination with other organs, particularly the Security Council, to realise the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
He cautioned member states against using the UN as a "theatre for divisive politics and parochial purposes," saying, "In a world fractured and fragmented along multiple fault lines, the United Nations... is the only vehicle we possess to harness our collective energies for global public good."
