India launched a strong response to Pakistan at the United Nations after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised issues including terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, democratic rights and minority treatment during his General Assembly address.
India’s First Secretary at the Permanent Mission to the UN, Petal Gahlot, exercised India’s right of reply in New York and challenged several of Pakistan’s assertions. Her remarks included allegations about Pakistan’s record on terrorism, democracy, human rights and religious minorities.
India warns of consequences for terrorism
Gahlot focused heavily on what she described as Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism.
She said India had demonstrated its determination to respond to terrorist attacks and would continue to exercise its right to defend itself.
“Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised and continued,” Gahlot said, adding, “Terrorism by Pakistan will have consequences.”
She further accused Pakistan of relying on what she described as “terrorism, deceit and duplicity”, arguing that such an approach would not benefit Pakistan or the wider international community.
Gahlot also urged UN member states to judge Pakistan based on its actions and policies rather than its statements at the General Assembly.
“We are confident that this Assembly will recognize Pakistan and its policies for what they really are, not what its representative mendaciously projects them to be,” she said.
“Reiterating falsehoods year after year does not make them true,” she added.
‘If we must talk about Kashmir…’
Gahlot also responded to Pakistan’s references to Jammu and Kashmir.
India reiterated its position that Jammu and Kashmir is an “integral and inalienable part” of the country. She then redirected the discussion towards Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
“But if we must talk about Kashmir, let us turn our attention to the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” Gahlot said.
She alleged that people in the region had faced what she called “wanton killings, the brutal violence and the denial of basic rights”.
The comments came after Sharif referred to Jammu and Kashmir during his address, making the disputed territory one of the major points of confrontation between the two countries at the UN.
India questions Pakistan’s democratic claims
Gahlot also criticised Pakistan’s remarks concerning democracy and human rights.
She described Pakistan’s comments as “hypocritical homilies” and questioned the functioning of its political system.
“We heard some hypocritical homilies about democratic rights and human values from a regime whose capital at this very moment is being fortified against its own people,” she said.
Gahlot alleged that the Pakistani political system remained dominated by the military.
She described it as “a regime of the army, by the army, and for the army”, while arguing that changes among political leaders did not alter what she characterised as the military’s influence.
“Their puppets may come and go, but let us have no illusion about who calls the shots,” she said.
She also referred to Pakistan’s 27th Amendment and alleged that it provided “the lifelong immunity granted to its real ruler”.
‘The world knows how minorities are treated in Pakistan’
Religious intolerance and minority rights were another area of confrontation.
Gahlot rejected Pakistan’s comments on religious issues and accused the country of having a record of what she called “bigotry and hatred”.
“They claim to uphold security during the day; they actually carry out terrorism at night,” she said.
Referring to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and the treatment of religious minorities, she added, “The world knows how minorities are treated in Pakistan. No pious platitude can mislead it.”
Gahlot invokes 9/11 and Osama bin Laden
Gahlot also referred to the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks while responding to Pakistan’s remarks at the General Assembly.
“This afternoon, the General Assembly heard some bizarre remarks from the representative of Pakistan,” she said.
Gahlot pointed out that the remarks came shortly after the world marked 25 years since the “horrendous 9-11 terrorist attack”.
She then referred to Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda founder and mastermind of the September 11 attacks, noting that he had been living “right on the doorstep of the Pakistani Army’s premier academy”.
Gahlot also criticised the Pakistani representative’s praise of the military institution and ended by referring to Pakistan as what she said Pakistanis themselves call a “Form 47 government”.
India’s intervention came as a formal right of reply to Sharif’s address at the UN General Assembly, with Gahlot using the opportunity to challenge Pakistan’s statements on terrorism, Kashmir, democracy and minority rights.
