India calls out Pakistan at UN General Assembly

J ust a couple of days ago, US President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Army Chief, signalling once again that Washington is happy to indulge Islamabad despite its tainted record. How does India confront such contradictions? It is all very well for External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to thunder at the UN General Assembly, but speeches collide with reality when the world’s most powerful country courts the very state India identifies as the “epicentre of global terrorism.” On Saturday, Jaishankar minced no words in calling out Pakistan’s role in exporting terror. Yet, the sting of his rebuke is blunted by Washington’s willingness to engage a nation that has nurtured terror networks for decades. From 26/11 in Mumbai to Pulwama and most recently Pahalgam, the evidence has been overwhelming. But Pakistan continues to don the cloak of victimhood, invoking Kashmir as distraction, while being shielded by geopolitical convenience.

With international attention diverted by Ukraine and West Asia, there is a danger that South Asia’s terror factories slip off the radar. India’s task is therefore twofold: to keep the spotlight firmly on Pakistan’s duplicity and to craft coalitions resilient enough to withstand Washington’s shifting posture. Leveraging mechanisms such as the Financial Action Task Force, pushing for stronger global counter-terror frameworks and working with like-minded nations are essential steps.

The larger point Jaishankar drove home is about credibility—both of the UN and of the West. A Security Council that cannot act on terrorism and a US that berates extremism even as it woos its sponsors, erode trust in the global order. For India, the lesson is clear: words at the UN must be reinforced by diplomacy and coalition-building that expose double standards. Terrorism cannot be normalised as South Asia’s destiny, nor can great powers be allowed to look away. Silence and hypocrisy are complicity.