India slams Pak, says Islamabad has a 'long-standing practice of cross-border terrorism'; warns of consequences

India slammed Pakistan at the UNGA over cross-border terrorism and Kashmir, warning that continued terrorism would have consequences, while Pakistan raised the Kashmir issue and warned that any attempt to divert its share of Indus waters would be treated as an act of war.

India on Friday (local time) launched a scathing attack on Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), warning that cross-border terrorism by Pakistan will have consequences, and rejected Islamabad's remarks on India and Jammu and Kashmir.

India slams Pakistan over cross-border terrorism

Exercising its right to reply to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's speech at the UNGA in New York, First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, Petal Gahlot, described the Islamabad government as a "puppet regime." The remarks came after Sharif used the UNGA to thank US President Donald Trump for his "timely intervention" during the four-day military confrontation in May 2025 between India and Pakistan.

Gahlot said, "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 added that the remarks from the Pakistani PM came roughly a fortnight after the US marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Gahlot noted, "This happens just a fortnight after New York City and the world marked the 25th anniversary of the horrendous 9-11 terrorist attack. This context is important to keep in mind because its mastermind, Osama bin Laden, was living right on the doorstep of the Pakistani Army's premier academy. This was the very entity that was the subject of such deep genuflection before us today by the representative of Pakistan."

Responding to Sharif's remarks on cross-border terrorism, the Indian representative noted that Islamabad has a "longstanding practice" of cross-border terrorism and added that New Delhi made it clear during last year's military confrontation and Operation Sindoor that terrorists will have nowhere to run or hide now.

She said, "Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised. And continued terrorism by Pakistan will have consequences. It will understandably call into question what was premised on friendship and goodwill."

India slams Pakistan's 27th Amendment

Referring to the 27th Constitutional Amendment that Pakistan passed in November last year, which allows Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, lifelong immunity from any legal prosecution, Gahlot said, "And that…is happening because this is a regime of the army, by the army, and for the army. Their puppets may come and go, but let us have no illusion about who calls the shots. The reality of Pakistan is expressed in its 27th Amendment and the lifelong immunity granted to its real ruler."

Pakistani PM raises Kashmir, IWT issue at UNGA

Sharif, who is facing several crises back home, including a failing economy, massive protests over the ongoing detention of former PM Imran Khan, and unrest in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the UNGA. In his roughly 23-minute address, the Pakistani PM, while raising the Kashmir issue, said that preventing South Asia from returning to the brink of conflict seen in 2025 would require a fair and lasting resolution to the Kashmir issue.

Exercising its right to reply, New Delhi highlighted the atrocities that Islamabad is carrying out while maintaining that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.

Gahlot stated, "References were made to the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This is an integral and inalienable part of my country and will always remain so. But if we must talk about Kashmir, let us turn our attention to the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Ask the people of Rawalkot about the wanton killings, the brutal violence, and the denial of basic rights that they have long experienced."

The Pakistani PM also commented on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which India continues to keep in abeyance despite a recent Hague tribunal ruling that the treaty remains fully in force. Sharif told the Assembly that any attempt by India to “stop, impede, or divert” Pakistan's share of the waters “will be treated as an act of war”. He went on to say that water from the Indus River serves as the “lifeblood” not only for the people of Pakistan but for the entire region.

Sharif's remarks at the UNGA come at a difficult time for his government, since the PoK region has been witnessing large-scale protests for several months over 12 contentious refugee seats, prompting a crackdown by security forces and allegations of rigging in the recently held elections.

(with agency inputs)

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