India hits back at Pakistan at UN:Says Islamabad’s civilian governments remain at Army’s mercy

India has sharply rejected Pakistan’s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir at the UN General Assembly, accusing Islamabad of using the Kashmir issue to divert attention from its own internal political and human rights problems. Exercising its Right of Reply during a UNGA Third Committee meeting on Friday, India reiterated that the Union Territories of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh “were, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India”. First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Bhavika Mangalanandan, also launched a pointed attack on Pakistan’s political system, saying its “so-called civilian governments” depend on the military and rarely complete their terms. India targets Pakistan’s military influence Responding to Pakistan’s intervention, Mangalanandan said the political situation in Islamabad offered little basis for its criticism of India. “We all know that the so-called civilian governments in Pakistan serve at the mercy of their Army and rarely complete their terms,” she said. She also referred to Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying he “continues to remain in jail, even as his health is reported to be fast deteriorating”. Mangalanandan further claimed that Khan’s erstwhile ruling party had not been allowed to contest elections. Kashmir issue used to divert attention, India says India accused Pakistan of attempting to shift international attention away from its domestic problems by raising Jammu and Kashmir at the UN. “Instead of addressing domestic discontent, Pakistan seeks to distract by fomenting instability in India and sponsoring, inciting, abetting, and financing cross-border terrorism in my country for more than three decades,” Mangalanandan said. She maintained that there was no outstanding dispute over Jammu and Kashmir from India’s perspective, arguing that the only remaining issue was the territory under Pakistan’s control. “The only outstanding matter is a vacation of the territory Pakistan holds under illegal and forcible occupation,” she said. India also rejected what it described as Pakistan’s concerns about the people of Jammu and Kashmir, turning the focus instead to unrest in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Reference to Rawalakot protests Mangalanandan said Pakistan’s comments were an attempt to conceal what she described as the “ongoing tragedy in Rawalakot and its other cities”. She alleged that hundreds of civilians had been killed and that there had been a “brutal crackdown” across Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir against people demanding basic necessities. She said protesters had been seeking “bread, electricity and human dignity”. According to India, such developments were an expected consequence of what it described as prolonged Pakistani military occupation of the region and continued repression. India invokes Pakistan’s 2024 election controversy India also criticised restrictions on media coverage in Pakistan, arguing that attempts to suppress reporting had made the situation harder to conceal internationally. “When any free media is banned from covering such news in Pakistan, the evidence becomes undeniable for the global community that only the writ of the Form 47 government and their masters and the Army headquarters runs large,” Mangalanandan said. Her reference to the “Form 47 government” alluded to allegations of rigging and manipulation surrounding Pakistan’s 2024 general elections. India contrasted Pakistan’s political situation with developments in Jammu and Kashmir, pointing to the Assembly elections held there in 2024. India points to 2024 Kashmir elections Mangalanandan told the UNGA Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, that Jammu and Kashmir had held Assembly elections in 2024 with a “massive turnout”, followed by a peaceful transfer of power to an elected government. “The contrast could not have been starker,” she said. India also rejected Pakistan’s portrayal of the human rights situation in Kashmir, asserting that the violations in the region were instead being carried out by Pakistan’s armed forces and terrorist proxies. “Propaganda does not become fact through repetition,” Mangalanandan said. She concluded by urging Pakistan to focus on its own domestic challenges rather than seeking territory beyond its control. “Pakistan would serve its people better by confronting its own fault lines and building its economy than by coveting the territory of others,” she said. ​