“Terrorism by Pakistan Will Have Consequences”: India Hits Back at Shehbaz Sharif at UN

India tears into Sharif's UN speech: "deceit and duplicity will neither benefit it nor the world"

September 26, 2026

Hypocritical Homilies: India's Blistering UNGA Rebuttal Explained

India’s UN Right of Reply Slams Sharif’s “Hypocritical Homilies,” Warns of Consequences

India delivered a sharp rebuke to Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, using its right of reply to reject Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif‘s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir and to warn that continued cross-border terrorism by Pakistan would carry consequences.

Petal Gahlot, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered the response, addressing terrorism, Kashmir, minority rights and Pakistan’s democratic record in a wide-ranging reply to Sharif’s address earlier at the General Assembly.

“Bizarre remarks,” and a pointed reference to 9/11

Gahlot opened by calling Sharif’s speech “bizarre,” noting that it came just a fortnight after New York and the world marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. She used that anniversary to draw a pointed comparison, noting that the attacks’ mastermind, Osama bin Laden, was found living close to the Pakistani Army’s premier training academy — an institution she said Sharif’s speech had shown deep deference toward.

Gahlot said the core issue remained what she called Pakistan’s “long-standing practice of cross-border terrorism,” and invoked India’s response to terrorism the previous year, saying it had shown that “terrorists will have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.” She went on to warn, “Terrorism by Pakistan will have consequences,” adding that India’s right to defend itself against terrorism would continue to be exercised.

On democracy, minorities and Pakistan’s military

The response extended beyond terrorism to Pakistan’s internal governance. Gahlot accused Pakistan’s government of what she called “hypocritical homilies” on democratic rights and human values, pointing out that Pakistan’s capital was, in her words, being fortified against its own people. She described the situation as “a regime of the army, by the army, and for the army,” citing Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment and what she characterised as lifelong immunity granted to the country’s “real ruler.”

On religious intolerance, Gahlot said Pakistan’s own comments came from what she called a record of “bigotry and hatred,” adding, “They claim to uphold security during the day; they actually carry out terrorism at night.” She also referenced Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and its treatment of minorities, saying, “The world knows how minorities are treated in Pakistan. No pious platitude can mislead it.”

Kashmir and the Indus Waters dispute

Sharif’s UN address had called for a resolution of the Kashmir dispute, alleging decades of rights violations including arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and collective punishment, and had warned that any Indian move to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of Indus river waters would be treated as an act of aggression. Gahlot rejected these characterisations outright, reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir remains an integral part of India.

Closing her remarks, Gahlot said she was confident the Assembly would recognise Pakistan “for what they really are, not what its representative mendaciously projects it to be,” adding that repeating the same allegations year after year would not make them true, and that “Pakistan’s terrorism, deceit and duplicity will neither benefit it nor the world.”

Pakistan had not issued a public counter-response to India’s right of reply as of Friday evening.