India facing 'serious challenge' of cross-border supply

United Nations: India is facing a "serious challenge" of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones, which cannot be possible without active support from State authorities, New Delhi's envoy here said in an apparent reference to Pakistan. Speaking at the UN Security Council's open debate on 'Threats to International Peace and Security: Risks Stemming from Violations of Agreements Regulating the Exports of Weapons and Military Equipments' held on Monday under Russia's Presidency of the Council for the month of April, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj also asserted that "certain states with dubious proliferation credentials" that collude with terrorists should be held accountable for their "misdeeds".

"The export of weapons and military equipment in violation of international law, exacerbating geo-political tensions, cannot be ignored," she said.

She said that the quantum of these threats multiplies when "certain states with dubious proliferation credentials, in view of their masked proliferation networks and deceptive procurement practices of sensitive goods and technologies, collude with terrorists and other non-state actors.

"For example, the rise in volume and the quality of the small arms acquired by terrorist organisations remind us time and again that they cannot exist without the sponsorship or support of States," Kamboj said. Speaking further, she said that in India's context, "we are facing a serious challenge of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones, which cannot be possible without active support from the authorities in control of those territories," an apparent reference to Pakistan.

Pakistani drones carrying arms and drugs have been shot down very often by India's Border Security Force (BSF). The most recent incident was reported on April 1 when the BSF said its troops opened fire at a suspected Pakistani drone along the International Border in Jammu.

It was the second such incident since mid March. Kamboj called on the international community to "condemn such behaviour and hold such states accountable for their misdeeds."

Russian Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia told the Council that Moscow repeatedly called meetings of the Security Council to address the dangerous consequences of "pumping up" the Kiev regime with weapons, which clearly illustrate the risks of violating the obligations in the area of WME control.

"Regardless of the approaches of certain countries to the developments in Ukraine, these risks are quite real and can apply to any other region.

It is the duty of the Security Council to respond to them and discuss, including jointly with other member states, possible measures to stop such risks," he said. He added that the West is "not interested in putting an end to the crisis in Ukraine".