India delivered a sharp rebuke to Pakistan at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, accusing its neighbour of pursuing a singular and hostile objective aimed at undermining India and harming its people. Speaking at the Council, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvathaneni Harish, rejected what he described as Pakistan’s distorted narrative and said Islamabad was using the international मंच to advance propaganda rather than facts.
Responding directly to remarks made by Pakistan’s representative, Harish said that Pakistan, despite being an elected member of the Security Council, has consistently demonstrated that its only agenda is to target India. He strongly dismissed Pakistan’s version of events surrounding Operation Sindoor, calling the account “false and self-serving” and disconnected from the reality on the ground.
Harish recalled that until May 9 last year, Pakistan had continued to issue threats of further attacks against India. He stated that the situation changed decisively the following day, when the Pakistani military directly contacted Indian authorities and sought an immediate halt to hostilities. According to him, this request came after Pakistan suffered substantial damage to key air bases as a result of India’s military response, evidence of which—including images of destroyed runways and damaged hangars—was already widely available in the public domain.
The Indian envoy also used his address to underline New Delhi’s long-standing position that terrorism can never be treated as a normal or acceptable instrument of state behaviour. Referring to Pakistan’s remarks about establishing a “new normal”, Harish said there can be no normalisation of terrorism, nor can the international community be expected to tolerate Pakistan’s continued reliance on terror as a tool of state policy. He warned that the Security Council must not be allowed to become a platform for legitimising or justifying terrorism in any form.
India has repeatedly maintained that Pakistan was compelled to seek a ceasefire only hours after planning a large-scale offensive on May 10 last year, once it became clear that it could not match India’s air defence capabilities. This assessment, Harish noted, has also been echoed by independent international analyses, including evaluations by a Switzerland-based military think tank, which concluded that the Indian Air Force’s air superiority over significant portions of Pakistan forced Islamabad into requesting an urgent cessation of hostilities during the four-day conflict.
Rejecting Pakistan’s counterclaims, Harish reiterated that India has consistently denied assertions that Pakistani forces destroyed Indian airbases or shot down multiple Indian fighter jets. He described these claims as baseless and part of a broader attempt to mislead the international community.
During his statement, Harish also criticised Pakistan for repeatedly raising what India considers its internal matters on international platforms. He reaffirmed that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has always been, and will continue to be, an integral and inalienable part of India, leaving no room for external interference or reinterpretation.
Addressing the issue of water-sharing, Harish defended India’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. He said the agreement was signed 65 years ago in a spirit of goodwill and friendship, but Pakistan had repeatedly violated that spirit through multiple wars and thousands of terror attacks against India. According to him, India was left with no option but to suspend the treaty until Pakistan credibly and irreversibly ends its support for cross-border terrorism.
He further stressed that Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks have claimed the lives of thousands of Indians over the decades, and urged Islamabad to reflect seriously on its own adherence to the rule of law. Harish said Pakistan would be better served by introspection rather than deflection on international stages.
In a pointed remark on Pakistan’s internal political developments, Harish criticised the role of the country’s military leadership, referring specifically to Army Chief Asim Munir. He questioned how Pakistan had allowed its armed forces to engineer what he termed a constitutional coup through the 27th Amendment, granting lifetime immunity to the chief of defence forces.
He also noted that in May 2025, the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif elevated Asim Munir to the rank of Field Marshal, marking only the second time in Pakistan’s history that such a promotion had taken place. According to Harish, these developments further underscore the deep civil-military imbalance within Pakistan, which continues to have serious implications for regional peace and stability.
