India’s “Inevitable Consequences” Warning After Shehbaz Sharif’s UN Speech

India issued a stern warning to Pakistan today at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) following Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s speech, in which he raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue. India firmly responded by stating that Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism will “inevitably invite consequences.”

India’s First Secretary to the UN, Bhavika Mangalanandan, delivered a pointed rebuttal alleging Pakistan’s complicity in global terrorism and citing its long history of using cross-border terrorism as a state policy. Ms Mangalanandan’s statement came in response to Mr Sharif’s call for India to reverse its 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and his demands for a dialogue between the two countries.

“This Assembly regrettably witnessed a travesty this morning. A country run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics trade and transnational crime has had the audacity to attack the world’s largest democracy,” Ms Mangalanandan said. “The world can see for itself what Pakistan really is.”

Watch: India exercises its Right of Reply at the 79th session of the @UN General Assembly debate.@DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/c6g4HAKTBg

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The First Secretary described Mr Sharif’s speech as audacious, given Pakistan’s international “reputation for terrorism”, narcotics trade, and transnational crime. “A country run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism…has had the audacity to attack the world’s largest democracy,” she said, referencing attacks orchestrated by Pakistan-based terror groups, including the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Ms Mangalanandan said Pakistan’s “fingerprints” are on many terrorist incidents across the world.  “Perhaps it should come as no surprise that its prime minister would so speak in this hallowed hall. Yet we must make clear how unacceptable his words are to all of us. We know that Pakistan will seek to counter the truth with more lies. Repetition will change nothing. Our stand is clear and needs no reiteration,” she said.

India reiterated that any discussion of a “Strategic Restraint Regime” with Pakistan is moot unless terrorism is eradicated. Ms Mangalanandan noted, “There can be no compact with terrorism.” She also spoke of Pakistan’s past, including its hosting of Osama bin Laden and connections to various terrorist incidents worldwide.

Mr Sharif, in his speech, linked the Kashmir issue with regional peace. He also alleged that India’s military expansion was directed against Pakistan. However, Ms Mangalanandan pointed out Pakistan’s history of meddling in Jammu and Kashmir through terrorism, seeking to disrupt the democratic process in the region.

India’s response extended beyond terrorism to Pakistan’s internal issues. Ms Mangalanandan accused Pakistan of human rights abuses, referring to the genocide of 1971 in Bangladesh and its persecution of minorities. She called it “ridiculous” for Pakistan to lecture the world about intolerance, given its own record.

Pakistan responded with a Right of Reply, rejecting India’s claims as “baseless and misleading,” and reiterated its call for a referendum in Jammu and Kashmir, as per UN Security Council resolutions.