UNITED NATIONS, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 6th Aug, 2026) Pakistan told the UN Security Council Wednesday that India‘s annexation of occupied Jammu and Kashmir seven years ago using 90,000 Indian troops was a “worst example of state terrorism”.
“Today, 5 August marks a grim occasion – it is the seventh anniversary of the unlawful and unilateral measures imposed in Indian-illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said in a debate on ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’, while underscoring the need for intensive international cooperation and practical action to fight the menace.
“On this day … the Kashmiri people, enduring over seven decades of injustice, indignity, unfulfilled promises and denial of their Security Council-guaranteed fundamental right to self-determination were subjected to a new wave of repression,” the Pakistani envoy said.
Pakistan, he said, stands for zero-tolerance for such blatant perpetration of state terrorism – in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and in other situations of foreign occupation.
“Also, the international community must not allow counter-terrorism to be misused and abused as a pretext to suppress the internationally-recognized and legitimate struggles of peoples against foreign occupation and for their inalienable right to self-determination.”
On Afghanistan, Ambassador Asim Ahmad said that since the Taliban’s takeover of the country in 2021, an ever-more permissive environment has allowed terror groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan, “with active external support” from a neighboring State.
“Safe havens are available inside Afghanistan to terrorist groups such as TTP, BLA and its Majeed Brigade, ISIL-K and their affiliates, ETIM, and Al Qaeda affiliates,” he said.
“We must effectively address this increasingly dangerous terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan,” the Pakistani envoy said, stressing that the Taliban must be held accountable to the obligation to ensure that Afghan territory is not used by any terrorist group to threaten or attack other States, including Pakistan.
“External sponsors of terrorism must also be held to account for supporting, financing and arming these proxies – these terrorist groups in Afghanistan.”
He also agreed that the threat posed by Da’esh — while different from past decades — remains serious.
“Acting alone, no State can effectively confront the transnational threat of terrorism,” he stressed, calling for stronger border management and better efforts to disrupt terrorist financing — including virtual assets and crypto currencies.
“Terrorism can only be defeated through a comprehensive and coordinated international response, without double standards or selectivity – by addressing the root causes and preventing politically motivated agendas that exploit situations to fuel terrorism,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad added.
Briefing the 15-member Council, Oguljeren Niyazberdiyeva, Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism at the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), said that despite international efforts, Da’esh continues to pose a serious threat to international peace and security.
Presenting the twenty-third report of the Secretary-General on the activities of ISIL/Da’esh and the UN’s efforts to support Member States’ efforts to counter them, she said terrorist groups today are increasingly operating across borders and exploiting advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies.
“While sustained counter-terrorism operations have disrupted Da’esh’s senior leadership and reduced its ability to direct operations centrally, the group has continued to adapt,” she said. The group’s structure is increasingly dispersed, but it remains resilient, with its affiliates united by a shared ideology.
Noting that 2026 marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, she said that — though its operations are largely decentralized — Da’esh continues to exploit fragile security environments and protracted armed conflicts to carry out attacks.
