When a terror enabler like Pakistan is made vice-chair of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, it is not just hypocrisy, it is an act of betraying every victim of terror. Global justice has not just failed, it has capitulated. The institution meant to uphold peace is now led by its principal destroyer.
On June 4, 2025, an event took place at the United Nations that should shake the conscience of the global order. Pakistan, long known as the world’s most prolific incubator of terrorism, was handed leadership of the Taliban Sanctions Committee and made vice-chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council. This is not diplomacy at work; it is moral collapse on a global scale and hypocrisy institutionalised. It is a brazen insult to every victim of terrorism, a moral implosion — a grotesque betrayal of the very ideals the UN was founded upon.
Pakistan: The World’s Leading Terror Factory
For decades, Pakistan has operated not as a victim of terrorism, but as its architect, exporter, and benefactor. This isn’t a fringe accusation — it’s an undeniable pattern supported by volumes of global intelligence, open-source evidence, and even accidental admissions by its own leaders. 146 terrorist/ terror institutions blacklisted by the UN are linked to Pakistan.
Remember Osama bin Laden? Found not in a cave in Afghanistan, but comfortably hiding in Abbottabad — just down the road from Pakistan’s most prestigious military academy. Yet no action against Pakistan or its ISI.
Remember Hafiz Saeed of LeT? A UN-designated terrorist with a bounty on his head who hosted public rallies under state protection. Protected and nurtured as a Pak asset. A free and respected figure in Pakistan.
What about Masood Azhar? A man whose terrorist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, has waged war against India time and again, yet continues to be sheltered like a VIP by the Pakistani state. Rewarded 14 crore by Pakistan state for terrorist killed and infrastructure damaged during May 7 strikes by India.
The state funeral of the terrorist killed on May 7, with uniformed Pakistan establishment’s presence was on global media. This is not rogue behaviour. This is state policy. The ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, doesn’t just tolerate terror groups — it funds, arms, and directs them. They are not “non-state actors but state actors”. They are simply the undeniable wing of a state waging asymmetric warfare.
Remember Osama bin Laden? He was found not in a cave in Afghanistan, but comfortably hiding in Abbottabad — just down the road from Pakistan’s most prestigious military academy. Yet no action was taken against Pakistan or its intelligence agency ISI
Pakistan Army: A Transnational Crime Syndicate in Uniform
The world often mislabels Pakistan as a ‘failed’ or ‘fragile’ state. That’s a dangerous delusion. Pakistan is not failing. It is functioning exactly as intended — for its military elite. What you have is a criminal syndicate cloaked in uniform, where generals live like oligarchs while the nation crumbles beneath them.
Institutions like the Fauji Foundation, Shaheen Foundation, and Army Welfare Trust present themselves as welfare bodies for veterans. In reality, they are sprawling, tax-exempt business empires. The Fauji Foundation alone runs over 50 companies, from fertilisers to banks.
And how much of their revenue actually goes to soldier welfare? A paltry 3–5%. The rest flows into opaque coffers, financing everything from luxury real estate to ideological warfare to terrorism.
Parliament has no oversight. The judiciary dares not question them. The civilian government dances to their tune. This isn’t governance — it’s feudalism in camouflage.
Drugs, Dollars, and Death: The Narco-Terror Pipeline
Where does Pakistan’s deep state get the cash to fund its proxy wars and maintain its shadow empire? The answer lies in the heroin fields of Afghanistan and the smuggling routes of Baluchistan.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has repeatedly warned of Pakistan’s role in the Golden Crescent — one of the world’s most lucrative narcotics corridors. Heroin from Afghanistan is smuggled through Pakistani territories using military convoys and port facilities, especially via Karachi and Gwadar.
Pakistan’s institutions like Fauji Foundation, Shaheen Foundation, and Army Welfare Trust are sprawling, tax-exempt business empires. Less than 5% of their revenue goes to soldier welfare. The rest flows into opaque coffers, financing ideological warfare and terrorism
And it’s not just drugs. Arms, counterfeit currency, and jihadi manpower all move along these routes with military-grade efficiency.
Askari Bank — a military-owned financial entity — has been repeatedly flagged for suspect transactions. Multiple global studies, including those from Stanford University and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, have traced funds from these shadowy networks to terror hubs in Kashmir, Afghanistan, and even sleeper cells in Europe.
What we’re witnessing is narco-terrorism weaponised, not by cartels, but by a nation-state with nukes.
Real Estate: Where Dirty Money Finds a Home
With billions flowing in from drugs, aid fraud, and illicit trade, where does the Pakistani elite park their loot? In property.
The Defence Housing Authority (DHA), controlled by the military, is not just a housing scheme — it’s a giant real estate laundromat. DHA colonies have sprawled across Pakistan, offering luxury living at a time when the average citizen can barely afford electricity.
These schemes are not funded by honest savings — terror cash, foreign aid siphons, and drug profits fund them. Shell companies in Dubai, Singapore, and Muscat wash this money clean, flipping shady transactions into pristine assets.
Global watchdogs like FATF and Global Financial Integrity have repeatedly flagged these activities, but little action follows. The world prefers not to rock the boat — especially when Western powers need Pakistani air corridors and access to Afghanistan.
By elevating Pakistan in global counter-terror structures, the UN is sending a message — not just to victims, but to perpetrators. The message is: You can sponsor terror, and still be rewarded. You can kill, maim, destabilise, and get promoted to peacekeeper
The IMF and the Aid Industrial Complex
Since 1958, Pakistan has received over $40 billion in IMF loans. Add the billions in bilateral aid from the US, China, and the EU, and the total crosses $100 billion. But where does this money go? Between 2008 and 2024, Pakistan’s military misappropriated $600 million of international aid.
A significant chunk ends up under ‘defence subsidies’ and ‘strategic allocations’ — which, in Pakistan, is code for opaque slush funds that fuel conflict, not stability.
Western taxpayers believe their money is helping stabilise a struggling democracy. In truth, they are funding terror infrastructure and military privilege. This is not just a poor policy, it is geopolitical negligence bordering on betrayal.
The world cannot be blind. No terrorism grows without money and no terror economy thrives without international indulgence. The tap must be switched off.
What Message Are We Sending the World?
By elevating Pakistan in global counter-terror structures, the UN is sending a message — not just to victims, but to perpetrators. The message is this: You can sponsor terror, and still be rewarded. You can kill, maim, destabilise — and get promoted to peacekeeper.
To victims of 26/11 in Mumbai, to families torn apart in Pulwama, Uri, Peshawar, and Kandahar — what do we say? That their lives were pawns in a game of diplomatic accommodation? The system isn’t just broken. It’s bleeding from the inside.
Western taxpayers believe their money is helping stabilise a struggling democracy. In truth, they are funding terror infrastructure and military privileges. This is not just a poor policy, it is geopolitical negligence bordering on betrayal
The Road Ahead: Time for Global Honesty
If the world is serious about ending terrorism, it must first stop legitimising its enablers.
- The UN must revoke Pakistan’s leadership roles in counter-terror bodies.
- Financial watchdogs must stop turning a blind eye to military-run laundromats.
- The IMF and World Bank must impose strict conditionalities on aid disbursal with full transparency and audits.
- Democracies must stop treating Pakistan as a transactional partner and start treating it as a systemic threat.
This isn’t about India vs Pakistan. It’s about the world vs terror. And right now, terror is winning — not on the battlefield, but at the ballot boxes of global institutions.
Remember, when the arsonist wears the badge of the fire chief, fires do not get doused — they spread. If Pakistan is allowed to redefine counter-terrorism, then truth has no meaning, and justice has no future.
The author, a PVSM, AVSM, VSM has had an illustrious career spanning nearly four decades. A distinguished Armoured Corps officer, he has served in various prestigious staff and command appointments including Commander Independent Armoured Brigade, ADG PP, GOC Armoured Division and GOC Strike 1. The officer retired as DG Mechanised Forces in December 2017 during which he was the architect to initiate process for reintroduction of Light Tank and Chairman on the study on C5ISR for Indian Army. Subsequently he was Consultant MoD/OFB from 2018 to 2020. He is also a reputed defence analyst, a motivational speaker and prolific writer on matters of military, defence technology and national security. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
