External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday warned that India will exercise its right to defend itself against terrorism, while saying friendship and goodwill cannot coexist with the scourge, in a sharp response to Pakistan at the UN General Assembly.
Without naming Pakistan, Jaishankar accused a “serial practitioner of terrorism” of misrepresenting facts before the Assembly and attempting to “normalise terrorism” and claim immunity from its consequences.
“That will not stand. Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised,” Jaishankar said while delivering India's national statement at the General Debate of the 81st session of the UNGA.
“Friendship and goodwill cannot co-exist with terrorism. And understandings premised on that will naturally be called into question. It is for the perpetrator of terrorism to mend its ways,” he said.
Jaishankar said terrorism remained a persistent threat to peace, particularly when it was state-sponsored and had a cross-border dimension.
“Governments indulging in such practices must be held accountable. There must be no dilution in our zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism,” he said, calling for terror financing networks to be exposed and countered.
His remarks came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty in his UNGA address and credited US President Donald Trump for his “timely intervention” during the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. New Delhi has maintained that the subsequent ceasefire was reached through direct communication between the two countries, with no third-party intervention.
Beyond terrorism, Jaishankar called for reforms to multilateral institutions, saying the world was moving towards a multipolar order. He also highlighted India's role as a first responder during natural disasters and conflicts and its development and capacity-building initiatives across the Global South.
On artificial intelligence, he said India viewed it as a driver of human empowerment, economic growth and large-scale problem-solving, and backed greater cooperation with the Global South.
Jaishankar also highlighted India's humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies to conflict zones and disaster-hit countries, and said New Delhi would continue contributing to food, medicine, energy and fertiliser security.
He urged countries to strengthen international understanding and said economic and political rebalancing was already underway, with cultural rebalancing needing to be taken forward.
(With inputs from PTI)