Jaish e Mohammed's Masood Azhar has been named mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack
Pressing for international action against terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and "their shadowy supporters", India today delivered a sharp message to Pakistan at the UN, saying "what you sow will bear fruit."
India's permanent representative at the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, told the Security Council: "If we are to bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan, groups perpetrating violence must be denied safe havens in Afghan's neighbourhood."
The comments come a day after India's top anti-terror body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), named Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as the mastermind of the terror attack on the Pathankot air base in January, in which eight security men were killed.
Quoting Rumi, the envoy warned Pakistan: "What you sow will bear fruit. If you have any sense my friend, don't plant anything but peace."
In apparent criticism of China, he also blamed the "split" in UN bodies for the world organisation's inability to deal with terrorism.
China has blocked India's efforts to have international sanctions imposed on Masood Azhar by a committee that takes action against Al-Qaida and its affiliates. As a member of the Security Council, China has also provided cover for Pakistan releasing on bail Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the Lashkar commander who masterminded the 26/11 attack on Mumbai.
"We need to address, as an imperative, the support terrorist organisations like Taliban, Al-Qaeda and its designated affiliates like LeT and JeM, which operate outside the fabric of international law, draw from shadowy supporters outside Afghanistan," Mr Akbaruddin said.
The international community has to make it clear that "we will neither roll over in the face of terror, nor will we allow the roll back of the achievements of the resolute people and government of Afghanistan in the last decade and a half," he added.