- Sarwani urges India to end the occupation and follow UN Security Council resolutions.
- Exposing India’s rights abuses and distorting IIOJK demographics.
- Says Pakistan acted responsibly, rejects Indian Pahalgam claims.
Pakistan told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that Jammu and Kashmir is not Indian territory and will never be recognized as such, effectively rejecting New Delhi’s claims during a discussion at the world body.
“Let me make it clear, Kashmir is not, never has been and will never be a so-called part of India,” said Gul Qaiser Sarwani, adviser and political coordinator at the Pakistan mission, while speaking at the UNSC’s open debate on leadership for peace.
He said: “Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory and this is not just the position of Pakistan; it is the position of the United Nations.
“India itself brought the matter before the Security Council and accepted the commitment to allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through a UN-supervised referendum.
“Nearly eight decades later, that commitment remains unfulfilled.”
Sarwani added: “Instead, India maintains a massive military presence, suppresses fundamental freedoms, silences independent voices and pursues measures aimed at changing the demographic character of the territory – in gross violation of international law and its legal obligations as an occupying power.”
Regarding allegations of terrorism, he said: “India’s attempts to divert attention through baseless allegations of terrorism cannot hide its record of sponsoring terrorism across its borders, the practice of state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a global state-sponsored assassination campaign, including in North America, and the state’s patronage of its minorities.”
He noted: “There is credible evidence of India’s sponsorship of terrorist groups including TTP, Fitna Alkhwarij and BLA, Fitna Hindustan, which have carried out attacks in Pakistan.”
Sarwani also said, “Apart from its blatant sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan, it is India which has on repeated occasions undertaken aggression against Pakistan – in gross violation of international law and the UN Charter.”
He added that Pakistan had always acted with responsibility and restraint, saying, “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.”
Describing India’s conduct, Sarwani said, “This conduct by the Indian state reflects the mindset of a rogue actor who assumes the roles of judge, jury and executioner, in flagrant disregard of international law and norms.
“There was no self-defense by India; it was bare aggression against a sovereign state.”
He noted Pakistan’s response: “Pakistan’s violation of India’s sovereignty was responded to appropriately by inflicting casualties on Indian military and aviation assets – including by shooting down several Indian aircraft that participated in the aggression.”
On the Indus Waters Treaty, Sarwani said, “India’s remarks on the Indus Waters Treaty are nothing but a deliberate distortion of facts and a misinterpretation of a binding international agreement.
“No provision in the Indus Waters Treaty allows unilateral suspension or modification or so-called ‘stay’. Such actions amount to weaponization of water for narrow political gains.”
Citing the Arbitral Tribunal’s 2025 award, he noted: “The Arbitral Tribunal’s 2025 award confirmed the continued validity of the treaty and its dispute settlement mechanisms, upholding Pakistan’s position that all disputes must be resolved strictly within the legal framework of the treaty.
“Pakistan has also conveyed its position and concern to the attention of the Security Council.”
Sarwani also spoke about democracy in India, saying, “India’s claims to democracy warrant scrutiny, especially when its actions reflect the systematic erosion of civil liberties, suppression of dissent, marginalization and suppression of minorities, and the rise of majoritarian extremism under the Hindutva ideology.”
Rejecting India’s criticism of Pakistan’s laws, he added: “We reject the baseless and misplaced characterization of Pakistan’s constitutional and legislative processes passed by a two-thirds majority in Pakistan’s parliament.
“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.
“No one needs any lessons on democracy or the rule of law from a state whose behavior is in open conflict with those principles.”
In conclusion, he said: “In the spirit of today’s debate, leadership for peace requires India to abandon denial, end its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, end state-sponsored terrorism, uphold its international obligations, implement UN Security Council resolutions and choose the path of dialogue and good neighbourliness.”
