By Manisha Sahu, America News World
September 28, 2025
United Nations, New York – September 28, 2025 — The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) witnessed another tense exchange between India and Pakistan on Saturday, as the two South Asian neighbors clashed over terrorism allegations and the April Pahalgam attack. The verbal sparring highlighted the persistent animosity that continues to dominate relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, even as the global forum called for unity on international peace and security.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, while addressing the UNGA earlier in the day, made a pointed though indirect accusation against Pakistan, calling it a “hub of terrorism” and squarely blaming it for the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed several lives earlier this year. Without naming Pakistan explicitly, Jaishankar emphasized that India’s concerns were rooted in repeated acts of cross-border terrorism, stressing that terrorism emanating from its neighborhood continues to threaten not only India but also global security.
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Following his speech, Pakistan exercised its right of reply in the evening session. A Pakistani diplomat accused India of “maligning Pakistan” without evidence and denied Islamabad’s involvement in the Pahalgam incident. The representative said that New Delhi had failed to provide “credible proof” linking Pakistan to the attack, calling Jaishankar’s comments politically motivated.
India quickly responded with its own right of reply. Rentala Srinivas, Second Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, dismissed Pakistan’s rebuttal as an implicit admission of guilt. “It is telling that a neighbor, who was not named, chose to nevertheless respond and admit their longstanding practice of cross-border terrorism,” Srinivas said. He argued that Pakistan’s record on terrorism was well established and visible worldwide.
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“Pakistan’s reputation speaks for itself. Its fingerprints are so visible in terrorism across so many geographies. It is a menace not only to its neighbors but to the entire world,” Srinivas declared. He further underlined that “no arguments or untruths can ever whitewash the crimes of Terroristan,” echoing India’s increasingly sharp terminology toward Islamabad.
The phrase “Terroristan,” used by India in its statement, appeared to particularly rankle Pakistan’s delegation. Responding a second time, the Pakistani diplomat said that the deliberate distortion of Pakistan’s name was an “attempt to malign and insult an entire people.” He charged that India was weaponizing rhetoric at an international platform instead of engaging constructively. The representative further accused New Delhi of destabilizing neighboring countries through its intelligence agencies, attempting to turn the tables on India.
The Pahalgam attack, which occurred in April 2025, targeted a bus carrying civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving multiple people dead and dozens injured. Indian security agencies blamed militants linked to Pakistan-based groups, intensifying New Delhi’s diplomatic offensive against Islamabad in recent months. Pakistan has consistently rejected these accusations, arguing that India uses terrorism charges as a tool to divert attention from its own human rights record in Kashmir.
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The latest UNGA clash underscores the entrenched hostility that continues to define the India-Pakistan relationship. Both nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since independence in 1947, with two of them centered on Kashmir. While intermittent efforts have been made to restart dialogue, the diplomatic channels have largely collapsed since the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and India’s subsequent revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status.
The global stage of the UN General Assembly has often become an arena for both countries to air grievances against each other. In previous years, Pakistan has used its UNGA speeches to spotlight Kashmir and criticize Indian policies, while India has consistently sought to expose Pakistan’s alleged role as a safe haven for terror groups. Saturday’s exchanges reaffirmed this pattern, with both sides delivering scathing rhetoric rather than gestures of reconciliation.
International observers note that while India’s position on Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism has gained traction in several Western capitals, Islamabad continues to enjoy support from its allies, including China and some members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The dueling narratives at the UN reflect the larger geopolitical divides shaping South Asia’s security dynamics.
For now, neither side appears willing to soften its stance. India remains determined to highlight Pakistan’s alleged complicity in cross-border terrorism, particularly after high-profile attacks like Pahalgam. Pakistan, on the other hand, insists that New Delhi is attempting to “scapegoat” its neighbor to mask internal challenges in Kashmir and avoid addressing local discontent.
As the UNGA session proceeds, diplomats suggest that the India-Pakistan feud is unlikely to abate and may resurface in subsequent debates on counterterrorism and regional security. For many in the international community, the bitter exchanges serve as a reminder of the unresolved tensions that continue to fuel instability in South Asia — a region where peace remains elusive, and mistrust runs deep.