India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of using the United Nations to build a narrative around terrorism while failing to confront militant groups that it has allegedly supported, saying the “Frankenstein” created by the Pakistani state had now turned against its own country.
Raghoo Puri, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made the remarks while exercising India's right of reply to a statement by Pakistan's Deputy Permanent Representative Usman Jadoon during a session of the UN General Assembly's Sixth Committee on measures to eliminate international terrorism.
“Pakistan has presented itself as a frontline state in combating terrorism and as a victim, while masking the fact that the Frankenstein (monster) the Pakistani state has created and lost control over has moved from wreaking havoc in neighbouring countries to doing the same in Pakistan,” Puri said.
He said the contradiction had increasingly been exposed by Pakistan's own political leaders.
India invokes Pakistan's own leaders
Puri referred to recent comments by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Last month, Maryam Nawaz said Punjab faced less of a threat from neighbouring countries than from neighbouring provinces.
Puri also recalled an interview Nawaz Sharif gave to Dawn in 2018, in which the former prime minister questioned the presence of militant organisations in Pakistan and their ability to cross the border and carry out attacks in India.
“Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors; should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai?” Nawaz Sharif had said, referring to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Puri did not name either Maryam Nawaz or Nawaz Sharif while making the remarks.
“This was exposed recently by a provincial chief minister of Pakistan, and may I jog the memory of colleagues to an interview in 2018 by her father and former prime minister of Pakistan, exposing this dark secret,” he said.
“You cannot run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. Reality never works like that,” Puri added.
9/11, 26/11 and Pahalgam cited
India also invoked some of the major terror attacks that it said the world had not forgotten, including the September 11 attacks in the United States, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the Pahalgam attack.
Puri recalled that Osama bin Laden, the principal mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was found in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
He also referred to the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, in which terrorists targeted tourists on the basis of their religion and which was followed by a five-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan.
“The victims in Pahalgam were not asked about their political orientation; they were asked about their religion,” Puri said.
“It is therefore deeply ironic that Pakistan speaks of combating religious hatred while allowing the conditions that enable it to persist and thrive, especially by fomenting cross-border terrorism,” he added.
Puri accused Islamabad of continuing to rely on “narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation” instead of addressing terrorism.
He also dismissed Pakistan's claims about the outcome of Operation Sindoor, India's military response following the Pahalgam attack.
“If bombed-out airfields and cratered runways look like victory to Pakistan, they are of course welcome to enjoy it,” he said.
Masood Azhar bounty questioned
Puri separately targeted Pakistan's announcement of an increased reward for information leading to the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, who is listed as a terrorist by the United Nations.
He accused Islamabad of using the announcement to obscure its alleged support for terrorism. Reports on Puri's remarks said the reward had been increased from 50 lakh Pakistani rupees to 70 lakh Pakistani rupees.
“Pakistan glosses over its state support for terrorism by announcing enhanced rewards for apprehending the UN-listed head of Jaish-e-Mohammed, terrorist and mastermind of several attacks against my country,” Puri said.
He pointed to Pakistani media interviews with Azhar concerning the outcome of Operation Sindoor.
“If the media can reach Azhar and get his confirmation on Operation Sindoor, the Pakistani State surely knows his whereabouts,” Puri said.
Puri also noted that Pakistani representatives had, only months earlier, described Jaish-e-Mohammed as a defunct organisation.
He argued that allowing terrorist groups to operate with political backing undermines international commitments and denies victims justice by providing perpetrators with safe havens.
India attacks Pakistan's 'circular economy' of narratives
In a second right of reply, Puri accused Pakistan of repeatedly recycling the same arguments instead of taking concrete action against terrorism.
“Pakistan believes in the circular economy of words and narratives,” he said.
“If this much effort had actually been made in countering terrorism rather than narrative building, misinformation, and disinformation, the world would have been a better place,” Puri added.
He then described Pakistan as a “Form 47 government”, a term used by critics in connection with allegations of manipulation and rigging during the country's 2024 general election.
India's intervention also called for stronger international action against terrorist perpetrators, organisers, financiers and state sponsors, arguing that terrorism cannot be defeated through declarations alone.
Puri's remarks came amid a wider diplomatic exchange in the Sixth Committee, where India sought to turn Pakistan's own statements and the remarks of its political leadership into evidence of what New Delhi described as Islamabad's contradictions on terrorism.