Pakistan rebuffs India’s effort to malign it during UNGA session

Pakistan strongly rebuked India at the United Nations General Assembly, after an Indian diplomat derisively referred to the country as “Terroristan,” in a deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan and distract from its own atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Islamabad’s representative called the remark “utterly shameful” and branded India a “serial perpetrator of terrorism.”

The clash unfolded during the ongoing General Debate when Indian diplomat Rentala Srinivas accused Pakistan of promoting terrorism, declaring, “No arguments or untruths can ever whitewash the crimes of Terroristan.” Earlier in the session, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar had also described Pakistan, without naming it directly, as the “epicentre of global terrorism,” citing the killing of tourists in Pahalgam as an example of “cross-border barbarism.”

Exercising his right of reply, Muhammad Rashid, Second Secretary at Pakistan’s Mission to the UN, said India’s attempt to distort the name of a sovereign state was undignified and exposed its frustration. “By engaging in this kind of rhetoric, India diminishes its own credibility, showing the world that it has no substantive argument to offer, only cheap slurs unworthy of serious discourse,” he told the 193-member Assembly.

He further said India was “trying to pollute the environment of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with baseless accusations,”

Rashid argued that India itself has been implicated in sponsoring and supporting terrorism abroad, citing reports of Indian intelligence networks involved in sabotage and targeted killings. He referenced the capture of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving Indian naval officer, as proof of India’s clandestine operations in Pakistan.

He further accused New Delhi of “state terrorism” in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), where he said extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and staged encounters are routine.

Rejecting Jaishankar’s claims about the Pahalgam attack, Rashid dismissed the “cross-border barbarism” charge as mere propaganda. He said Pakistan had condemned the incident at the UN Security Council (UNSC) and even offered an independent probe, which India refused. “No surprise that till this day, no evidence related to that incident has been shared,” he said.

Instead, he accused India of using the episode as a pretext for “blatant aggression” against Pakistan between May 7 and 10, which killed 54 civilians, including 15 children and 13 women. Pakistan responded under Article 51 of the UN Charter, targeting only military assets and downing multiple Indian aircraft, he added.

Read more: Security forces kill 17 terrorists in Lakki Marwat IBO: ISPR

While Jaishankar urged the global community to choke terror financing, sanction perpetrators, and apply “relentless pressure” on those adopting terrorism as policy, Pakistan accused India of waging a covert campaign through proxies such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and its Majeed Brigade. Rashid said these groups had turned places of worship, education, and livelihood into sites of bloodshed.

Underscoring Pakistan’s own sacrifices, Rashid said more than 90,000 lives have been lost in its fight against terrorism, making it a recognized pillar in global counterterrorism efforts. “More than 1.9 billion people of South Asia, a quarter of the world’s population, deserve prosperity and stability. But these goals cannot be achieved through threats and intimidation,” he said.

“True progress requires sincerity, mutual respect, dialogue and diplomacy—principles Pakistan has upheld, and which India must finally choose to embrace, if it truly seeks peace.” He stressed that Pakistan’s desire for dialogue remains firm but can only proceed based on dignity and respect, not mockery and slander.

Pakistan's intelligence-based operation against Fitna al Khwarij

Seventeen terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in a volatile southern district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the military announced on Saturday, a day after Pakistan, China, Iran, and Russia expressed "deep concern" over the continued presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

A mop-up operation is underway in the area, as the ISPR said, "the security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country."

Pakistan uses the term "Fitna al Khwarij" for the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella of terrorist groups responsible for much of the terrorist violence in the country. The group has found safe havens across the border in Afghanistan following its rout in the Zarb-e-Azb military operation in the erstwhile tribal areas in 2014.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban regime in Kabul to fulfill its obligation under the Doha Agreement and act against the TTP and other terrorist groups hostile towards Pakistan. The Taliban regime, however, maintains plausible deniability, claiming instead that the problem lies across the border in Pakistan.

Read: Security forces kill 13 terrorists in Dera Ismail Khan IBO: ISPR

No regional country or international body is willing to buy the Taliban's deniability because mounting evidence suggests Afghanistan has once again become a magnet for transnational and international terrorist organisations following the capture of power by the Taliban in August 2021.

On Friday, four countries — Pakistan, China, Iran and Russia — warned that terrorist outfits based in Afghanistan, such as ISIL, al Qaida, TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and others, continue to threaten regional and global security.

The warning was made in a joint statement after their 4th quadrilateral meeting on Afghanistan held on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly session in New York. The meeting, convened at the invitation of Russia, brought together foreign ministers of the four states to review the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.