UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan took strong exception when India called it “Terroristan” at the United Nations on Saturday, saying that the attempt to distort the country’s name was “utterly shameful” and petty.
“It is utterly shameful that India stoops so low as to distort the very name of a country, a member of the United Nations,” Pakistani diplomat Muhammad Rashid told the UN General Assembly, that saw a fiery clash between the two South Asian neighbours, the second in the current session.
Rashid, a second secretary at the Pakistani Mission to the UN, was exercising his right of reply to his Indian counterpart, Rentala Srinivas, who accused Pakistan of promoting terrorism, saying, “No arguments or untruths can ever whitewash the crimes of Terroristan.”
Hitting back at India, the Pakistani diplomat said, “Resorting to mockery of a sovereign nation-state’s name is not just undignified, it is also a deliberate attempt to malign and insult an entire people.
“This is not a local political congregation, Rashid told the 193-member Assembly. “By engaging in this kind of rhetoric, India diminishes its own credibility, showing the world that it has no substantive argument to offer—only, I am sorry to say, cheap slurs which are not worthy of serious discourse.”
He added, “Such language reflects neither maturity nor responsibility. Instead, it exposes that India is frustrated and reveals its pettiness on the world stage.”
The Pakistani diplomat said India itself has been implicated in supporting and sponsoring terrorism beyond its borders, referring to credible reports pointing to networks run by Indian intelligence agencies to destabilize its neighbouring countries. “And this is unfortunate: intelligence operatives have been accused of financing and directing groups engaged in sabotage and targeted killings across the world.”
“Undermining regional stability and violating international law is a habit for India,” he said, adding, “such actions expose the duplicity of its counterterrorism claims and raise serious concerns about its role in fueling rather than combatting terrorism.”
Rashid’s sharp retort evoked no further response from flustered-looking Srinivas, a second secretary at the Indian Mission to the UN, and with that the presiding officer closed the day-long session, the 5th day of the General Debate.
Earlier, the Pakistani diplomat took issue with the Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who also accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism, branding the neighbouring country as an “epicentre of global terrorism”.
Responding to India’s accusations, Rashid said Pakistan described India’s remarks as an attempt to malign his country, yet completely devoid of facts. That country is not just a serial perpetrator of terrorism, but a regional bully that is holding South Asia hostage to its hegemonic designs and radical ideology.
India’s unlawful and reckless behaviour must not be ignored by the international community, he said.
Pakistan, he added, has sacrificed over 90,000 lives in fighting terrorism – its sacrifices are recognized globally. “We are one of the strongest pillars in leading global efforts for combating terrorism as also highlighted by my Prime Minister (Shehbaz Sharif) at this forum.
Noting that India is in the league of those who illegally occupy territories, oppress populations and violate fundamental human rights as is the case in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistani diplomat pointed out that “State terrorism – in the form of: extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions, staged encounters and collective punishment under the cover of counter terrorism.”
“This country”, he said, also runs a sinister cross-border terrorist web and clandestine networks through its proxies, both inside Pakistan and beyond, and cited the case of Commander Kulbhushan Jadav, a serving Indian Naval Officer, who was caught spying red-handed by Pakistan.
Referring to what called Jaishankar’s “bizarre and untenable claims about the Pahalgam incident, Rashid said, “Whenever an incident occurs, Pakistan is reflexively blamed—without evidence, without logic, and without investigation”. Pakistan had joined other members of the Security Council in condemning the Pahalgam incident, and even offered an independent and credible investigation—an offer that was flatly rejected, he said.
“No surprise, that till this day, no evidence related to that incident has been shared by this country.”
And then using that incident as a pretext, he added, India carried out blatant aggression against Pakistan between 7-10 May, which resulted in the loss of 54 innocent lives, 15 of them children, and 13 women.
“To this, my country delivered a befitting yet carefully calibrated response, exercising our right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter. This response was directed solely at military targets and resulted in the downing of multiple aircraft, along with other significant military setbacks for the aggressor.”
Reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to peace, he said, “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. 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.”
