National: In a forceful address at the United Nations, India squarely blamed Pakistan for the recent Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, branding it the region’s worst such assault since the 2019 Pulwama tragedy. Representing India at the launch of the Victims of Terrorism Association Network in New York, Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Yojna Patel condemned terrorism “in all its forms” and directly linked the attack to Pakistan’s continued support for cross-border militancy.
While avoiding naming Pakistan explicitly in her opening remarks, Patel used India’s Right of Reply to expose what she called Pakistan’s “open confession” of complicity in terrorism. Citing a recent televised interview by Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, she said the minister admitted that Pakistan had historically supported, trained, and funded terrorist groups, exposing its true face as a “rogue state” that thrives on regional destabilisation.
“The entire world has heard Pakistan’s Defence Minister admitting their long-standing role in nurturing terrorism,” said Patel, urging the global community to abandon its silence and confront the threat with resolve. “The world can no longer turn a blind eye,” she added, signalling a growing impatience with what India sees as international leniency toward Islamabad’s actions.
The United Nations Security Council had already condemned the Pahalgam massacre “in the strongest terms,” demanding swift justice for the victims and full accountability from the perpetrators and their sponsors. The TRF (The Resistance Front), a known proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the April 22 attack at the Baisaran meadow, where gunmen opened fire on unarmed tourists.
In retaliation, India rolled out a series of diplomatic and economic countermeasures. These included suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, halting trade through the Attari Integrated Check Post, and scrapping the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme for Pakistani nationals. All Pakistani citizens currently in India under the scheme were given a 40-hour deadline to leave.
India’s message was unambiguous: the country would not tolerate terrorism or the states that enable it.