Kashmir 'never was and never will be' part of India, Pakistan tells UN Security Council

• Sarwani urges India to end occupation, follow UNSC resolutions.
• Exposes India’s rights violations, demographic distortions in IIOJK.
• Says Pakistan acted responsibly, rejects Indian Pahalgam claims.

Pakistan on Tuesday told the United Nations Security Council that Jammu and Kashmir is not an Indian territory and will never be recognised as such, effectively rejecting New Delhi’s claims during a discussion at the world body.

“Let me make it clear, Kashmir is not, it never was, and it will never be so-called part of India,” Gul Qaiser Sarwani, Counsellor and Political Coordinator at the Pakistan Mission, said while speaking at the UNSC Open Debate on Leadership for Peace.

He said, “Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory, and this is not Pakistan’s position alone; it is the position of the United Nations. 

"India itself brought the matter to the Security Council and accepted the obligation to allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through a UN-supervised plebiscite. 

"Nearly eight decades later, that commitment remains unfulfilled.”

Sarwani added, “Instead, India maintains a massive military presence, suppresses fundamental freedoms, silences independent voices, and pursues measures aimed at altering the demographic character of the territory – in gross violation of international law and its legal obligations as the occupying power.”

Turning to terrorism allegations, he said, “India’s attempts to deflect attention through unfounded allegations of terrorism cannot conceal its record of sponsorship of terrorism across its borders, perpetration of state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, global state-backed assassination campaign, including in North America, and state patronage of violence against its minorities.”

He noted, “There is credible evidence of India’s sponsorship of terrorist groups, including the TTP, Fitna Alkhwarij, and BLA, Fitna Hindustan, which have carried out attacks in Pakistan.”

Sarwani also said, “In addition to its blatant sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan, it is India, which has undertaken aggression on repeated occasions against Pakistan - in gross violation of international law and the UN Charter.”

He added that Pakistan had always acted with responsibility and restraint, saying, “Pakistan, as a responsible state, joined other members of the Security Council in condemning the Pahalgam incident. Pakistan offered an independent, credible investigation, which India rejected.”

Describing India’s conduct, Sarwani said, “This conduct of the Indian state reflects the mindset of a rogue actor, assuming the roles of judge, jury, and executioner, in blatant disregard of international law and norms. 

"There was no self-defence by India; it was a naked aggression against a sovereign state.”

He noted Pakistan’s response: “Pakistan’s violation of India’s sovereignty was responded to befittingly by inflicting losses on Indian military and aviation assets - including by downing multiple Indian aircraft that participated in the aggression.”

On the Indus Waters Treaty, Sarwani said, “India’s remarks on the Indus Waters Treaty are nothing but a deliberate distortion of facts and a misinterpretation of a binding international agreement. 

"No provision of the Indus Waters Treaty permits unilateral suspension or modification or so-called ‘abeyance’. Such actions amount to the weaponisation of water for narrow political gains.”

He cited the Court of Arbitration’s 2025 award, noting, “The Court of Arbitration’s 2025 award reaffirmed the continuing validity of the Treaty and its dispute-settlement mechanisms, upholding Pakistan’s position that all differences must be resolved strictly within the Treaty’s legal framework. 

"Pakistan has also conveyed its position and concern to the attention of the Security Council.”

Sarwani also spoke on democracy in India, saying, “Indian claims of democracy warrant scrutiny, particularly when its actions reflect the systematic erosion of civil liberties, suppression of dissent, marginalisation and oppression against minorities, and the rise of majoritarian extremism under Hindutva ideology.”

He rejected India’s criticism of Pakistan’s laws, adding, “We reject the baseless and misplaced characterisation of Pakistan’s constitutional and legislative processes, which are adopted by the two-thirds majority of the parliament of Pakistan. 

"Like all parliamentary democracies, constitutional amendments are the exclusive domain of the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan. India has neither the standing nor the moral authority to question Pakistan’s constitutional processes. 

"No one needs any lessons on democracy, or the rule of law, from a state whose conduct stands in open contradiction to these principles.”

Concluding, he said, “In the spirit of today’s debate, leadership for peace demands that India abandon denial, end its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, cease state-sponsored terrorism, uphold its international obligations, implement UNSC resolutions and choose the path of dialogue and good neighbourliness.”