UN debate: India calls out Pakistan Over Brutal Crackdown and Rights Abuses in Occupied Territories

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, sharply rebuked Pakistan during a Security Council open debate on Friday marking the UN's 80th anniversary, demanding an immediate end to "grave and ongoing human rights violations" in territories illegally occupied by Islamabad. Harish singled out Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), asserting that the region’s population remains in "open revolt against Pakistan's military occupation, repression, brutality, and illegal exploitation of resources."

Harish reaffirmed India's unwavering stance that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir "has been, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India," where residents exercise fundamental rights under the country’s democratic framework—concepts he described as "alien to Pakistan." The pointed remarks underscored New Delhi's rejection of Islamabad's perennial attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, framing it instead as a bilateral matter resolved by historical accession and constitutional integration.

The debate, themed around the UN’s relevance amid global crises, provided a platform for Harish to champion India’s philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—the world as one family—while advocating for justice, dignity, and prosperity through multilateral cooperation. He praised the organisation’s post-World War II legacy in advancing decolonisation, fostering new Global South nations, and setting benchmarks for economic growth, social development, and responses to pandemics, terrorism, and climate change.

Yet, he candidly acknowledged mounting questions over the UN’s legitimacy, credibility, and efficacy in a multipolar world, implicitly critiquing outdated structures like the Security Council’s permanent membership. India, a champion of UNSC reform, has long pushed for expansion to reflect contemporary realities, including its own bid for a permanent seat based on population, economic weight, and peacekeeping contributions.

Pakistan’s routine invocation of Kashmir at UN forums—often during General Assembly sessions or human rights discussions—has been consistently countered by India as a distraction from Islamabad’s domestic failures, including minority persecution, enforced disappearances in Balochistan, and support for cross-border terrorism. Harish’s statement aligned with this strategy, redirecting scrutiny toward PoJK’s governance vacuum, where local protests against resource plunder and political disenfranchisement have intensified since India’s 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which Pakistan falsely portrays as oppression while suppressing similar dissent within its administered areas.

The ambassador’s call for Pakistan to cease violations echoed India’s broader narrative that peace in South Asia hinges on Islamabad dismantling terror infrastructure rather than peddling disinformation on Jammu and Kashmir’s democratic normalcy, evidenced by record voter turnouts in recent local elections.

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Commemorating October 24—the day the UN Charter entered force in 1945 after ratification by its founding members, including the P5—Harish positioned India as a steadfast believer in multilateralism despite institutional shortcomings. As the world’s most populous democracy and a leading voice for the Global South, India continues to leverage UN platforms to expose double standards on human rights and terrorism, ensuring Pakistan’s provocations yield no diplomatic dividends. With bilateral talks stalled and trust deficits entrenched, such exchanges reinforce the impasse, leaving resolution tethered to verifiable actions rather than rhetorical volleys in New York’s marble halls.

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