NEW YORK: Pakistan on Wednesday accused India of sponsoring terrorism and carrying out targeted killings abroad, as it responded to remarks made by the Indian delegation during a United Nations Security Council meeting.
Speaking in reply to Indian representative Harish Parvathaneni, who had raised Pakistan’s internal political and constitutional matters, Gul Qaiser Sarwani, counsellor and political coordinator at Pakistan’s mission to the UN, said Islamabad possessed credible evidence of Indian involvement in terrorist activity inside Pakistan.
Sarwani told the Council that India was supporting proscribed militant groups including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Fitna al-Khawarij and the Balochistan Liberation Army. He also alleged that India was backing militants operating from across the border in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani diplomat further claimed that India had been involved in targeted killings of individuals it considered adversaries in North America and other countries, saying there was concrete proof of such actions.
Rejecting India’s criticism of Pakistan’s constitutional amendments, Sarwani said constitutional and legislative matters were the sole prerogative of Pakistan’s elected parliament and could not be questioned by external actors.
He said Pakistan’s constitutional changes had been adopted through a two-thirds majority, in line with democratic norms, adding that India lacked the standing or moral authority to comment on Pakistan’s internal processes.
Sarwani also accused India of persecuting religious minorities and criticised what he described as an atmosphere of impunity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Turning to Kashmir, the Pakistani representative said India had unleashed systematic repression in the disputed region and reiterated that Kashmir was not, and had never been, a legitimate part of India.
He noted that India had itself taken the Kashmir issue to the United Nations and committed to allowing the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through a UN-supervised plebiscite.
Sarwani said Pakistan had consistently exercised restraint despite provocations, adding that Indian statements at the Council were marked by denial and factual distortions.
India has previously rejected Pakistan’s allegations, maintaining that Islamabad sponsors militant activity in the region, a claim Pakistan denies.
