Agencies |United Nations:
India on Saturday launched a scathing critique against Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), accusing its neighbor of repeatedly exploiting the international forum to advance divisive political agendas and propagate misleading narratives regarding Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing the UNGA plenary session during a debate on the Annual Report of the UN Security Council, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, strongly objected to references made by his Pakistani counterpart, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad. The Pakistani envoy had earlier raised the Kashmir issue, reiterating Islamabad’s stance that the matter must be resolved under UN Security Council resolutions.
“The unwarranted reference by Pakistan to a matter strictly internal to India, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has compelled me to respond,” Harish stated, reaffirming that the region’s governance remains entirely an internal affair of India.
“Pakistan has decided not to spare this forum either from their characteristic misuse of august UN platforms for their divisive political interests,” Harish added, directly addressing Pakistan’s conduct. “I’d like to remind Pakistan that being a member of the UN Security Council is a huge responsibility. It’s not a forum for peddling biased and false narratives.”
‘An Inalienable Part of India’
Reiterating New Delhi’s long-standing geopolitical position, the Indian envoy emphasized that the legal and territorial status of the region remains absolute and unalterable.
“Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Any assertions to the contrary are baseless, devoid of and inconsistent with historical facts,” Harish declared, adding that “empty rhetoric and hollow claims” would fail to change realities on the ground. India further alleged that Pakistan had previously circulated misinformed and misleading communications during its tenure on the Security Council.
Renewed Push for Security Council Reform
Beyond the bilateral friction, India utilized the plenary session to push for structural overhauls within the UN’s primary decision-making body, arguing that the current setup fails to mirror contemporary global dynamics.
Harish called for the Security Council’s annual report to be presented earlier in the calendar year to improve efficiency, while making a strong case for expanding both the permanent and non-permanent membership categories.
“Retaining the status quo has so far not enabled effective functioning of the Security Council and cannot do so in future,” the Indian envoy warned, asserting that comprehensive expansion is vital to making the body more representative and operationally effective.
Before concluding his remarks, Ambassador Harish extended congratulations to Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe following their recent election to the UN Security Council for the 2027–28 term.
