Pakistan on Tuesday asserted before the United Nations Security Council that Jammu and Kashmir is not, and will never be, recognized as an Indian territory, outright rejecting New Delhi’s claims during a discussion at the world body.
“Let me make it clear, Kashmir is not, it never was, and it will never be so-called part of India,” said Gul Qaiser Sarwani, counsellor and political coordinator at the Pakistan Mission, during the UNSC Open Debate on Leadership for Peace. “Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory, and this is not Pakistan’s position alone; it is the position of the United Nations,” he said.
“India itself brought the matter to the Security Council and accepted the obligation to allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through a U.N.-supervised plebiscite. Nearly eight decades later, that commitment remains unfulfilled,” he continued.
“Instead, India maintains a massive military presence, suppresses fundamental freedoms, silences independent voices, and pursues measures aimed at altering the demographic character of the territory—in gross violation of international law and its legal obligations as the occupying power,” he added.
Sarwani said India’s attempts to deflect attention from Kashmir through “unfounded allegations of terrorism” could not conceal its own record of sponsoring cross-border terrorism; perpetrating state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir; conducting a global state-backed assassination campaign, including in North America; and state patronage of violence against its minorities.
“There is credible evidence of India’s sponsorship of terrorist groups, including the TTP, Fitna al-Khwarij, and BLA, Fitna Hindustan, which have carried out attacks in Pakistan,” he said. “In addition to its blatant sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan, it is India, which has undertaken aggression on repeated occasions against Pakistan—in gross violation of international law and the U.N. Charter,” he added.
The envoy stressed that Pakistan had always acted with responsibility and restraint. “Pakistan, as a responsible state, joined other members of the Security Council in condemning the Pahalgam incident. Pakistan offered an independent, credible investigation, which India rejected,” he recalled. “This conduct of the Indian state reflects the mindset of a rogue actor, assuming the roles of judge, jury, and executioner, in blatant disregard of international law and norms,” he said.
“There was no self-defense by India; it was a naked aggression against a sovereign state,” he said, noting Pakistan had responded to India’s violation of its sovereignty “befittingly” by inflicting losses on Indian military and aviation assets. He also described India’s remarks on the Indus Waters Treaty as “nothing but a deliberate distortion of facts and a misinterpretation of a binding international agreement.” He emphasized that the treaty did not permit unilateral suspension or modification or so-called ‘abeyance.’ “Such actions amount to the weaponization of water for narrow political gains,” he added.
Sarwani cited the Court of Arbitration’s 2025 award, noting it had reaffirmed the continuing validity of the treaty and its dispute-settlement mechanisms, upholding Pakistan’s position. “Pakistan has also conveyed its position and concern to the attention of the Security Council,” he said.
“Indian claims of democracy warrant scrutiny, particularly when its actions reflect the systematic erosion of civil liberties, suppression of dissent, marginalization and oppression against minorities, and the rise of majoritarian extremism under Hindutva ideology,” he continued, rejecting Delhi’s criticism of Islamabad’s laws. “We reject the baseless and misplaced characterization of Pakistan’s constitutional and legislative processes, which are adopted by the two thirds majority of the Parliament of Pakistan,” he said.
“Like all parliamentary democracies, constitutional amendments are the exclusive domain of the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan. India has neither the standing nor the moral authority to question Pakistan’s constitutional processes,” he said. “No one needs any lessons on democracy, or the rule of law, from a state whose conduct stands in open contradiction to these principles,” he added.
“In the spirit of today’s debate, leadership for peace demands that India abandon denial, end its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, cease state-sponsored terrorism, uphold its international obligations, implement UNSC resolutions and choose the path of dialogue and good neighborliness.”