We have a big problem with illegal weapons being sent across borders with the help of drones. This can’t happen without the help of the people in charge of those areas, India’s Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj told the Security Council on Monday.
“This kind of behavior should be condemned by the rest of the world, and bad states should be held accountable for their actions,” she said.
Even though Kamboj didn’t say the name of the country, Pakistan, it was clear that he was talking about it.
Officials in India say that Pakistani drones are dropping guns and drugs for terrorists in Punjab and Kashmir.
Last year, at least 22 of these drones were caught by Indian agencies by November, and 266 drone intrusions were recorded throughout the year.
In January, India’s Border Security Force found a drone in the Gurdaspur area of Punjab that was dropping weapons.
Kamboj told the Council about how terrorists and some countries that give them weapons work together. He did this during a session about the risks and threats to international security that come from the illegal export of weapons.
“The size of these (terrorist) threats grows when some states with questionable credentials for proliferation work with terrorists and other non-state actors,” she said. “This is because these states have hidden proliferation networks and sneaky ways of getting sensitive goods and technologies.”
Again, she didn’t say Pakistan’s name, but she said, “For example, the rise in the number and quality of small arms that terrorist groups are getting reminds us over and over that they can’t exist without the help of states.”
“It is impossible to ignore the fact that exporting weapons and military equipment against international law makes geopolitical tensions worse.”
Russia, which is this month’s Council president, called for the meeting to bring attention to the fact that the West is sending weapons to Ukraine, even though this doesn’t seem to break any international arms deals.
Vasily Nebenzia, Russia’s Permanent Representative, said that the weapons given to Ukraine are being sold on the black market to “criminals and terrorists.”
“Weapons that Western countries sent to Ukraine have started to show up in different European countries, where they are being used by organized crime. European police officers have proven this. These kinds of weapons are also spread all over the world. In particular, they end up in the hands of terrorists in Africa.
The US’s alternate representative, Robert Wood, said that Russia broke international rules by getting weapons from “rogue states” like North Korea.
He said that Russia got rockets and missiles for infantry in November of last year, which was against Security Council rules. He also said that Russia got drones from Iran, which were also against Security Council rules, and used them to attack people in Ukraine.
Shino Mitsuko, Japan’s Deputy Permanent Representative, said, in response to Nebenzia’s criticism of the West for giving weapons to Ukraine, “We must look at the fundamental cause of the problem: Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
She said that the Ukraine was using its right to defend itself against Russia’s attack.
