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Pahalgam Terror Attack and Global Hypocrisy
The Fragmentation in the Global Fight Against Terror
Context:
The Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025, has once again laid bare the global community’s fragmented and inconsistent approach towards combating terrorism, particularly when it originates from Pakistan.
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- While many countries condemned the attack, their simultaneous calls for restraint from both India and Pakistan reflect a disturbing shift from the once-unified global stance on terrorism.
Weak Global Response to Terrorism: A Growing Pattern
- Divided World Leaders: Statements from world leaders have been disappointingly muted and balanced.
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged both nations to seek a “responsible resolution” for regional peace, while Vice-President J.D. Vance expressed hope that India’s response wouldn’t lead to wider conflict.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasised resolving Indo-Pak issues through political means, and the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas avoided calling it a “terror attack” altogether.
- Troubling Erosion: This pattern indicates a troubling erosion of the post-9/11 consensus on zero tolerance for terrorism.
- Instead of unequivocally condemning state-sponsored terror, global powers now expect victims like India to exercise restraint, even when the threat is clear and proven — as in the Pulwama (2019) and Mumbai (2008) attacks.
Collapse of a Collective Global Anti-Terror Framework
- India should not be surprised by the lack of international support.
- With global attention consumed by the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and West Asia, few nations have the appetite for a new conflict in Asia.
- Moreover, successful elections and rising tourism in Jammu and Kashmir are triggering alarm in Pakistan, which views normalcy in the region as a threat.
- The global fight against terrorism has effectively collapsed into selective, interest-based responses.
- The “your terrorist, my terrorist” narrative has returned with full force.
- Europe focuses on right-wing extremism, while the U.S. under previous leadership emphasised REMVE (Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism).
- The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) routinely uses Islamophobia to downplay Islamist terror.
- Meanwhile, Canada has turned a blind eye to anti-India terrorist threats emanating from its soil, citing freedom of expression.
- Adding to the challenge is China’s veto power in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where it has blocked India’s 2022 proposals to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists.
- Now that Pakistan is a non-permanent member of the UNSC (2025–26), such efforts are likely to remain stymied.
Africa: Another Victim of Global Indifference
- The international community’s failure to act is not limited to Asia.
- According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025, Africa, especially the Sahel region, has become the new epicenter of terrorism, accounting for over half of global terrorism-related deaths.
- Yet, the response remains minimal — further underscoring how global efforts have become localised and inconsistent.
Double Standard for India
- Global actors prioritise “regional stability” over combating terrorism, largely due to Pakistan’s successful projection of a potential nuclear conflict.
- Ironically, the West supports Ukraine against nuclear-armed Russia but fears Indian retaliation against Pakistani-backed terror groups.
- Despite clear evidence that the Pahalgam attack was religiously motivated — with terrorists reportedly targeting Hindu tourists and a Muslim local who tried to help them — global silence on Hinduphobia is deafening.
- While Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and Christianophobia are rightly condemned, violence against Hindus is often ignored or downplayed.
- Even U.S. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy faced hate speech targeting his Hindu faith, underscoring the growing religious bias.
- In contrast, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stood out by explicitly calling the Pahalgam attack a “horrific Islamist terrorist attack” and acknowledging that Hindus were targeted.
Diplomatic and Strategic Fallout
- Pakistan, as expected, used its UNSC seat to push for an emergency closed-door session on regional tensions.
- Much like the 2019 meeting post-Article 370 abrogation, this session failed to produce any formal outcome, reaffirming the view of most P5 nations (except China) that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.
- Meanwhile, Pakistan’s criticism of India’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty was met with UNSC indifference.
- India will likely use its diplomatic influence to prevent any outcome document, similar to the 2021 Ethiopia-Egypt Nile water dispute resolution.
Path Forward for India: Strategic Autonomy and Proactive Diplomacy
- If the international community truly wishes to avoid conflict in South Asia, it must hold Pakistan accountable for cross-border terrorism.
- Strategic partners such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who are undertaking domestic reforms, must step forward and pressure Islamabad to end its support for terrorism.
- India must also use its multi-alignment foreign policy to create and leverage geopolitical space.
- Having led initiatives on terror financing and tech misuse, New Delhi should now push the global conversation beyond the United Nations — taking up religious bigotry against non-Abrahamic faiths, particularly Hinduphobia, through bilateral and multilateral channels.
