AI Generated Summary
- He emphasized the need to “choke the financing of terrorism” and to impose strict sanctions on terror sponsors, warning that those who condone terrorism “will find that it comes back to bite them.
- The exchange once again highlighted the deep diplomatic rift between the two South Asian neighbours over the issue of terrorism—an issue that India insists Pakistan continues to use as a state policy, even as Islamabad denies the charge.
- In a pointed message, Jaishankar said India has faced the challenge of terrorism since Independence and called on the international community to “unequivocally condemn” countries that openly harbor and glorify terrorists.
India has strongly criticized Pakistan for reacting to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday, saying Islamabad’s response amounted to an admission of its “longstanding practice of cross-border terrorism.”
During his speech at the UNGA’s General Debate, Jaishankar spoke about the global threat of terrorism and condemned nations that use it as an instrument of state policy. Without naming Pakistan, he remarked that “major international terrorist attacks are traced back to that one country,” referring to a “neighbor that is an epicentre of global terrorism.”
In a pointed message, Jaishankar said India has faced the challenge of terrorism since Independence and called on the international community to “unequivocally condemn” countries that openly harbor and glorify terrorists. He emphasized the need to “choke the financing of terrorism” and to impose strict sanctions on terror sponsors, warning that those who condone terrorism “will find that it comes back to bite them.”
Later, Pakistan exercised its Right of Reply, accusing India of making “malicious accusations” and attempting to “malign Pakistan.” The Pakistani delegate dismissed India’s statements as a “deliberate attempt to repeat lies,” even though Jaishankar had not named the country in his remarks.
India swiftly hit back, saying it was “telling that a neighbor who was not named chose to nevertheless respond and admit their longstanding practice of cross-border terrorism.”
Rentala Srinivas, Second Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered the sharp rebuttal. “Pakistan’s reputation speaks for itself. Its fingerprints are visible in terrorism across so many geographies. It is a menace not only to its neighbors but to the entire world,” Srinivas said, adding pointedly, “No arguments or untruths can ever whitewash the crimes of terroristan.”
As the Pakistani representative attempted another reply, Srinivas walked out of the hall, underscoring India’s refusal to engage further.
In his UNGA address earlier, Jaishankar cited the killing of innocent tourists in Pahalgam in April as an example of “cross-border barbarism.” He said India had “exercised its right to defend its people against terrorism and brought its organisers and perpetrators to justice.”
The exchange once again highlighted the deep diplomatic rift between the two South Asian neighbours over the issue of terrorism—an issue that India insists Pakistan continues to use as a state policy, even as Islamabad denies the charge.
