UNSC envoys, including Pakistan, visit 9/11 memorial ahead of anniversary

Members of the UN Security Council, including Pakistan, visited the 9/11 memorial in New York on September 10, a day before the 25th anniversary of the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz took the 15 envoys to the site and said the visit underlined a shared stand against terrorism.

The visit came ahead of a solemn ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed thousands and reshaped the global war on terrorism. The commemoration was held at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once stood before hijacked planes crashed into them on September 11, 2001.

Waltz said in a post on X, "We reinforced our shared commitment to peace, security, and a world free from terror." The UN envoys were also given a tour of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which houses remnants of the attacks.

Pakistan is currently serving as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and its two-year term will end in December this year. Pakistan's UN envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmad was among the ambassadors who visited the memorial site.

The attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda terrorists and orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, who was later found hiding in Abbottabad in Pakistan. He was killed by US Navy SEALs in a raid in May 2011.

Speaking about the impact of the attacks, Waltz said, "When this attack happened, it changed the entire world." He added, "The two and a half decades since, fighting the scourge of extremism. Now we have to be sure the entire world remembers." The visit by the Security Council envoys and the ceremony at Ground Zero marked the anniversary with a renewed emphasis on remembrance and the fight against terrorism.