India on Saturday strongly criticised Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for raising Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty during his speech at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, accusing him of “absurd theatrics” and glorifying terrorism.
“Mr President, this assembly witnessed absurd theatrics in the morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who once again glorified terrorism that is so central to their foreign policy. However, no degree of drama and no level of lies can conceal the facts,” Indian diplomat Petal Gahlot said while exercising the right of reply to Sharif’s address.
Gahlot reminded the assembly that Pakistan had earlier this year blocked the designation of a terror group at the UN Security Council after an attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
“This is the very same Pakistan which, at the UN Security Council on April 25, 2025, shielded the resistance front, a Pakistani-sponsored terror outfit, from the responsibility of carrying out the barbaric massacre of tourists in the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.
The Indian diplomat also pointed to Pakistan’s long record of harbouring extremists. “A country long steeped in the tradition of deploying and exporting terrorism has no shame in advancing the most ludicrous narratives to that end. Let us recall that it sheltered Osama bin Laden for a decade, even while pretending to partner in the war against terrorism. Its ministers have just recently acknowledged that they have been operating terrorist camps for decades.
It should come as no surprise that once again this duplicity continues, this time at the level of its Prime Minister,” she added.
As in previous years, Sharif raised the Kashmir issue in his address. “I wish to assure Kashmiri people that I stand with them, Pakistan stands with them, and one day soon India’s tyranny in Kashmir will come to a halt,” he declared.
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He claimed Pakistan supported Kashmir’s “fundamental right to self-determination through an impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.”
Sharif also asserted that Pakistan condemns terrorism “in all its forms and manifestations,” accusing foreign-backed groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Balochistan Liberation Army of targeting his country. He added that “there must be no space for hate speech, discrimination or violence against any person, or against any religion.”
India has dismissed these remarks as an attempt to deflect attention from Islamabad’s role in fuelling cross-border terrorism.
Sharif further accused India of breaching international law by suspending participation in the Indus Waters Treaty following the April Pahalgam terror attack. “To us, any violation of this Indus Treaty represents an act of war,” he told the Assembly.
India halted its involvement in the World Bank-brokered treaty, signed in 1960, after 26 civilians were killed in the Pahalgam attack. New Delhi has directly linked the move to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of terrorism, stating the agreement will only be reinstated if Islamabad takes verifiable steps to end cross-border violence.
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