PM Imran Khan’s speech at 76th session of United Nations General Assembly
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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
Mr. President,
I congratulate you on assuming the presidency of the 76th session of the General Assembly.
I also wish to express appreciation for the significant achievements of your predecessor, Volkan Bozkir, who guided the Assembly skilfully under the difficult circumstances imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr. President,
The world is facing triple challenge of the Covid-19, the accompanying economic crisis, and the threats posed by climate change.
The virus does not discriminate between nations and people. Nor do the catastrophes imposed by uncertain weather patterns.
The common threats faced by us today not only expose the fragility of the international system; they also underscore the oneness of humanity.
By the grace of Almighty Allah, Pakistan has been successful so far in containing the Covid pandemic. Our calibrated strategy of ‘smart lockdowns’ helped save lives and livelihoods and kept the economy afloat. Over 15 million families survived through our social protection programme of Ehsaas.
Mr. President,
Climate change is one of the primary existential threats that our planet faces today.
Pakistan’s contribution to global emissions is negligible. Yet we are among the 10 most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change in the world.
Being fully aware of our global responsibilities, we have embarked upon game-changing environmental programmes: reforesting Pakistan through our 10 billion tree tsunami; preserving natural habitats; switching to renewable energy; removing pollution from our cities; and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
To address the triple crisis of covid pandemic, economic downturn, and climate emergency, we need a comprehensive strategy that should include:
One, vaccine equity: everyone, everywhere, must be vaccinated against Covid, and as soon as possible;
Two, adequate financing must be made available to developing countries. This can be ensured through comprehensive debt restructuring; expanded ODA; redistribution of unutilized SDRs, and allotment of a greater proportion of SDRs to developing countries; and finally, provision of climate finance; and
Three, we must adopt clear investment strategies which help alleviate poverty, promote job creation, build sustainable infrastructure, and of course bridge the digital divide.
I propose that the Secretary-General convene an SDG summit in 2025 to review and accelerate implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mr. President,
Because of the plunder of the developing world by their corrupt ruling elites, the gap between the rich and the poor countries is increasing at an alarming speed.
Through this platform, I have been drawing the world’s attention towards the scourge of illicit financial flows from developing countries.
The Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI) has calculated that a staggering 7 trillion dollars in stolen assets are parked in the financial “haven” destinations.
This organized theft and illegal transfer of assets has profound consequences for the developing nations. It depletes their already meagre resources, accentuates the levels of poverty especially when laundered money puts pressure on the currency and leads to its devaluation. At the current rate, when the FACTI Panel estimates that a trillion dollar every year is taken out of the developing world, there will be mass exodus of economic migrants towards the richer nations.
What the East India Company did to India, the crooked ruling elites are doing to developing world – plundering the wealth and transferring to western capitals and offshore tax havens.
And Mr. President, retrieving the stolen assets from the developed countries is impossible for poor nations. The rich countries have no incentives, or compulsion, to return this ill-gotten wealth, and this ill-gotten wealth belongs to the masses of the developing world. I foresee, in the not-too-distant future a time will come when the rich countries will be forced to build walls to keep out economic migrants from these poor countries.
I fear a few “wealthy islands” in the sea of poverty will also turn into a global calamity, like climate change.
The General Assembly must take steps meaningfully to address this deeply disturbing, and morally repugnant, situation. Naming and shaming the ‘haven’ destinations and developing a comprehensive legal framework to halt and reverse the illicit financial flows are most critical actions to stop this grave economic injustice.
And at a minimum, the recommendations of Secretary General’s FACTI panel should be fully implemented.
Mr. President,
Islamophobia is another pernicious phenomenon that we all need to collectively combat.
In the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks, terrorism has been associated with Islam by some quarters. This has increased the tendency of right-wing, xenophobic and violent nationalists, extremists and terrorist groups to target Muslims.
The UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy has recognized these emerging threats. We hope the Secretary-General’s report will focus on these new threats of terrorism posed by Islamophobes and right-wing extremists.
I call on the Secretary-General to convene a global dialogue on countering the rise of Islamophobia. Our parallel efforts, at the same time, should be to promote interfaith harmony, and they should continue.
Mr. President,
The worst and most pervasive form of Islamophobia now rules India. The hate-filled ‘Hindutva’ ideology, propagated by the fascist RSS-BJP regime, has unleashed a reign of fear and violence against India’s 200 million strong Muslim community. Mob lynching by cow vigilantes; frequent pogroms, such as the one in New Delhi last year; discriminatory citizenship laws to purge India of Muslims; and a campaign to destroy mosques across India and obliterate its Muslim heritage and history, are all part of this criminal enterprise.
New Delhi has also embarked on what it ominously calls the “final solution” for the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. It has undertaken:
– a series of illegal and unilateral measures in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 5th August 2019;
– it has unleashed a reign of terror by an occupation force of 900,000;
– it has jailed senior Kashmiri leadership;
– imposed a clampdown on media and internet;
– violently suppressed peaceful protests;
– abducted 13,000 young Kashmiris and tortured hundreds of them;
– it has extra-judicially killed hundreds of innocent Kashmiris in fake “encounters”; and
– imposed collective punishments by destroying entire neighbourhoods and villages.
We have unveiled a detailed dossier on gross and systematic violations of human rights by the Indian Security Forces in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
This repression is accompanied by illegal efforts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory, and transform it from a Muslim majority into a Muslim minority.
Indian actions violate the resolutions of the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir. The resolutions clearly prescribe that the “final disposition” of the disputed territory should be decided by its people, through a free and impartial plebiscite held under the UN auspices.
India’s actions in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir also violate International Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws, including the 4th Geneva Convention, and amount to “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.”
It is unfortunate, very unfortunate, that the world’s approach to violations of human rights lacks even-handedness, and even is selective. Geopolitical considerations, or corporate interests, commercial interests often compel major powers to overlook the transgressions of their “affiliated” countries.
Such double standards are the most glaring in case of India, where this RSS-BJP regime is being allowed to get away with human rights abuses with complete impunity.
The most recent example of Indian barbarity was the forcible snatching of the mortal remains of the great Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, from his family, denying him a proper Islamic funeral and burial, in accordance with his wishes and Muslim traditions.
Devoid of any legal or moral sanction, this action was even against the basic norms of human decency. I call on this General Assembly to demand that Syed Geelani’s mortal remains be allowed to be buried in the “cemetery of martyrs” with the appropriate Islamic rites.
Mr. President,
Pakistan desires peace with India, as with all its neighbours. But sustainable peace in South Asia is contingent upon resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Last February, we reaffirmed the 2003 ceasefire understanding along the Line of Control. The hope was that it would lead to a rethink of the strategy in New Delhi. Sadly, the BJP government has intensified repression in Kashmir and continues to vitiate the environment by these barbaric acts.
The onus remains on India to create a conducive environment for meaningful and result-oriented engagement with Pakistan. And for that, it must do:
One, reverse its unilateral and illegal measures instituted since 5th August 2019;
Two, stop its oppression and human rights violations against the people of Kashmir; and
Three, halt and reverse the demographic changes in the occupied territory.
It is also essential to prevent another conflict between Pakistan and India. India’s military build-up, development of advanced nuclear weapons, and acquisition of destabilising conventional capabilities, can erode mutual deterrence between the two countries.
And now Mr. President, I want to talk about Afghanistan. For the current situation in Afghanistan, for some reason, Pakistan has been blamed for the turn of events, by politicians in the United States and some politicians in Europe.
From this platform, I want them all to know, the country that suffered the most, apart from Afghanistan, was Pakistan, when we joined the US War on Terror after 9/11.
80,000 Pakistanis died. $150 billion dollars were lost to our economy. There were 3.5 million internally displaced Pakistanis. And why did this happen? In the 1980s, Pakistan was a front-line state in fighting against the occupation of Afghanistan. Pakistan and the United States trained Mujahideen groups to fight for the liberation of Afghanistan. Amongst those Mujahideen groups was Al-Qaeda, various groups from all over the world. There were Mujahideen, Afghan Mujahideen. These were considered heroes.
President Ronald Regan invited them to the White House in 1983. And according to a news item, he compared them to the founding fathers of the United States. They were heroes.
Come 1989, the Soviets leave, and so do the Americans – abandoning Afghanistan. Pakistan was left with 5 million Afghan refugees. We were left with sectarian militant groups which were never existed before. But the worse cut of it was, that a year later Pakistan was sanctioned by the US. We felt used.
Fast forward 9/11, Pakistan is needed again by the US, because now the US-led coalition was invading Afghanistan, and it could not happen without Pakistan providing all the logistical support.
What happened after that?
The same Mujahideen that we had trained, that fighting foreign occupation was a sacred duty, a holy war or jehad, turned against us.
