International
oi-Ashish Rana
India on Saturday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, accusing Islamabad of supporting terrorism and making repeated false claims against India.
India strongly criticized Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s UNGA speech, accusing Islamabad of supporting terrorism and making false claims about Jammu and Kashmir, while asserting India’s right to self-defence and rejecting challenges to the Indus Waters Treaty.
India’s First Secretary at the UN, Petal Gehlot, said Pakistan must stop cross-border terrorism. She also said India had the right to defend itself if attacks from Pakistan continued.
India Slams Pakistan Over Terrorism
Gehlot pointed to Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and said he had been living near Pakistan’s premier military academy.
“Today, the representative of Pakistan went out of his way to praise that very military,” Gehlot said.
She also questioned Pakistan’s claims about democracy and human rights. Gehlot said Pakistan’s government was operating under heavy security protection and referred to the country’s 27th Constitutional Amendment and the lifetime legal immunity granted to what she described as its “actual ruler”.
“The world knows how minorities are treated in Pakistan,” she said. Gehlot added that “sweet and deceptive words” could not mislead the international community.
India Rejects Pakistan’s Kashmir Claims
Gehlot also strongly rejected Pakistan’s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir.
“Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inseparable part of India and will always remain so,” she said.
She also referred to recent protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and said the region should be discussed if Pakistan wanted to raise the Kashmir issue.
“Ask the people of Rawalakot about the killings, violence and denial of basic rights they have endured for years,” Gehlot said.
Warning To Pakistan Over Terrorism
Gehlot said Pakistan’s “longstanding policy of cross-border terrorism” remained a major concern for India.
“We demonstrated last year that there would be neither a safe haven nor a place to hide for terrorists,” she said.
She warned that India would continue to exercise its right to self-defence.
“If terrorism continues from Pakistan’s side, there will be consequences,” Gehlot said. She added that continued terrorism could also affect relations between the two countries.
India Responds To Indus Water Threat
The Indian response came after Sharif raised the Indus Waters Treaty at the UNGA. He claimed that India’s decision to hold the treaty in abeyance had no legal basis.
Sharif also warned that any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of the waters would be treated as an “act of war”.
India rejected Pakistan’s broader claims and said the international community would judge the country by its actions.
“Repeating a lie every year does not make it the truth,” Gehlot said.
She concluded that Pakistan’s “terrorism, deception and double standards” served neither Pakistan nor the wider world.
