‘Terrorism cannot co-exist with friendship’: Jaishankar targets Pakistan at UNGA

Jaishankar was responding to remarks made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his UNGA address on Friday, in which Sharif referred to the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict and said Pakistan had exercised its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Without naming Pakistan directly, Jaishankar said: “Arguments were invoked to normalise terrorism, and claim immunity from its consequences. That will not stand.”

“Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised,” he said.

In his strong-worded response, Jaishankar added: “Friendship and goodwill cannot co-exist with terrorism.”

“Understandings premised on that will naturally be called into question. It is for the perpetrator of terrorism to mend its ways,” he said.

What Shehbaz Sharif said?

Sharif said Pakistan had exercised its “inherent right of self-defence” under Article 51 of the UN Charter when it faced what he described as “external aggression from India” during the 2025 conflict.

He also credited US President Donald Trump with a “timely intervention” at a critical juncture, saying the two nuclear-armed neighbours had been on the brink of a larger conflict.

Operation Sindoor

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. India said the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The military confrontation between India and Pakistan continued for four days, involving aerial engagements, drone attacks and cross-border shelling, before the two sides agreed to halt hostilities on May 10.

The operation was named “Operation Sindoor”, referring to the traditional red vermillion worn by married Hindu women. The Indian government said the name symbolised the response to the Pahalgam attack, in which several women were widowed.

India and Pakistan continue to differ over the circumstances surrounding the 2025 confrontation and the role, if any, played by third-party mediation in bringing the hostilities to an end. New Delhi has maintained that the ceasefire was reached through direct communication between the two sides.