Terrorism Will “Inevitably Invite Consequences”, India Warns Pakistan at UN After Sharif’s Speech

Following Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s speech, in which he raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue, India issued a firm warning to Pakistan on Saturday at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

India strongly responded to the Pak PM’s statement by stating that Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border terrorism will “inevitably invite consequences.”

India’s First Secretary to the UN, Bhavika Mangalanandan, in her reply to the Pak PM’s outrageous statements shot back alleging Pakistan’s complicity in global terrorism. She cited Pakistan’s long history of using cross-border terrorism as a state policy.

In his speech Sharif called for India to reverse its 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and demanded 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. The world can see for itself what Pakistan really is”, Mangalanandan said.

She termed 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.

She referred to terrorist attacks orchestrated by Pakistan-based terror groups, including the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

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. “There can be no compact with terrorism”, she said.

She also spoke of Pakistan’s past, including providing shelter to Osama bin Laden and connections to various terrorist incidents worldwide.

Mangalanandan pointed out Pakistan’s history of meddling in Jammu and Kashmir through terrorism, seeking to disrupt the democratic process in the region.

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.