India tears into Pakistan at UNSC meeting, calls it ‘serial borrower from IMF’ that is ‘steeped in fanaticism’

Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar presided over the open debate that was also addressed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Dar raised the issue of Jammu & Kashmir as well as the Indus Waters Treaty, which has been held in abeyance by India post the Pahalgam terror attack.

Responding to Dar’s remarks, Harish said that the Indian sub-continent offers a “stark contrast” in terms of progress, prosperity and development models. “On the one hand, there is India, which is a mature democracy, a surging economy and a pluralistic and inclusive society. At the other extreme is Pakistan, steeped in fanaticism and terrorism, and a serial borrower from the IMF (International Monetary Fund),” he said.

Harish spoke about the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack for which The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Pakistan-based terror organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba, had claimed responsibility. He emphasised that there should be a “serious cost” to states that “violate the spirit of good neighbourliness and international relations by fomenting cross-border terrorism.”

He emphasised that India’s response was focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. “On achieving its primary objectives, a cessation of military activities was directly concluded at the request of Pakistan,” he said.

“In the recent decades, the nature of conflicts has transformed, with a proliferation of non-state actors, often propped up as proxies by state actors; and cross-border funding, arms trafficking, training of terrorists, and spread of radical ideologies, facilitated by modern digital and communication technologies,” he added.

At the meeting, Acting US Representative Ambassador Dorothy Shea said that in the past three months alone, American leadership delivered “de-escalations” between Israel and Iran, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and between India and Pakistan.

Donald Trump reiterates claim of stopping India-Pakistan conflict

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump claimed yet again that he stopped the recent “war” between India and Pakistan and that five planes were shot down in the conflict. He also claimed that the conflict between India and Pakistan “was probably going to end up in a nuclear war”.

“We stopped wars between India and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda,” he said at a reception in the White House with the Congress members. “They shot down five planes and it was back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I called them and said, ‘Listen, no more trade. If you do this, you’re not going to be good…They’re both powerful nuclear nations and that would have happened, and who knows where that would have ended up. And I stopped it’,” Trump added.

Last Friday, Trump – who has repeatedly stated that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan through trade – said for the first time that “five jets were shot down” during the fighting.

Pakistan is currently a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UNSC for the 2025-26 term. Earlier, in a statement post the Pahalgam terror attack, the Council members underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.