India on Friday (local time) issued a strong rebuttal to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), dismissing his claims of “victory” in the May escalation as hollow and accusing Islamabad of glorifying terrorism.
Exercising India’s right of reply, Petal Gahlot, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said Sharif’s narrative was riddled with falsehoods, pointing out that Pakistan’s threats against India ended only after Indian forces destroyed multiple Pakistani airbases on May 10.
“If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” she said, adding that publicly available images tell the true story of the conflict.
Gahlot also highlighted Pakistan’s consistent shielding of terror outfits. She cited Islamabad’s April 25 move at the UN Security Council to protect The Resistance Front, the group behind the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.
“This Assembly witnessed absurd theatrics in the morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who once again glorified terrorism that is central to their foreign policy,” she said.
Exposing Pakistan’s duplicity, Gahlot recalled its decade-long sheltering of Osama bin Laden, admissions by Pakistani ministers of running terror camps, and the glorification of terrorists killed during India’s Operation Sindoor strikes in Bahawalpur and Muridke.
She underlined India’s zero-tolerance stance on terrorism:
“Pakistan is responsible for terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in India. We will continue to defend our people and bring the organisers and perpetrators to justice. Nuclear blackmail will not deter us.”
Calling out Sharif’s peace rhetoric as insincere, she demanded Pakistan shut down terror camps and hand over wanted terrorists. She also slammed Islamabad’s political discourse steeped in “hate, bigotry and intolerance”, urging its leaders to confront their own realities instead of lecturing others.
Reaffirming India’s position, Gahlot stressed that all outstanding issues with Pakistan must be settled bilaterally, leaving “no room for third parties.”