Pakistan’s ‘unique way’ of respecting people’s will is jailing PM, giving lifetime immunity to army chief: India at UNSC

In a harsh retort, India pricked Pakistan’s “separatist agenda” in the UN Security Council, citing Islamabad’s “unique” way of respecting the will of its people by jailing a prime minister and granting lifetime immunity to its army chief.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, gave a strong response in the Security Council on Monday, December 15, 2025, after Pakistan’s Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad raised the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty during an open discussion on ‘Leadership for Peace’.

“Pakistan’s unwarranted reference to Jammu and Kashmir in today’s open debate proves its obsessive focus on harming India and its people. A non-permanent Member of the Security Council who chooses to advance this obsession at all meetings and platforms of the UN in pursuit of its divisive agenda cannot be expected to fulfill its stated responsibilities and obligations.”

“Let me be clear: India will counter all forms and manifestations of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan with all its might,” Mr. Harish said.

India also rejected the Pakistani envoy’s claim that the Jammu and Kashmir issue should be resolved in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people.

“Pakistan, of course, has a unique way of respecting the will of its people: by imprisoning a prime minister, banning the ruling political party and allowing its armed forces to stage a constitutional coup through the 27th amendment, and granting lifetime immunity to the Chief of Defense Forces,” Harish said.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been imprisoned and reportedly kept in solitary confinement for long periods since his arrest on corruption charges in August 2023.

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, called on the Pakistani government to take immediate action to respond to reports of Khan’s “inhumane and degrading” detention conditions, warning that they could amount to torture or other ill-treatment.

The 27th Constitutional Amendment, passed last month under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, provides lifetime immunity to Pakistan Defense Force Commander and chief of army staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, from any legal prosecution.

Harish also reiterated that the Union Territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India. “They were, they are, and they will remain so,” he said.

Mr. Harish added that India acceded to the Indus Waters Treaty in good faith and in the spirit of goodwill and friendship 65 years ago.

“During these sixty-five years, Pakistan has violated the spirit of the Accord by waging three wars and thousands of terrorist attacks on India,” he said.

“Tens of thousands of Indians have lost their lives in Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks over the last four decades, the most recent of which was the Pahalgam terror attack,” which included the religion-based targeted killing of 26 innocent civilians in April 2025.

“It is against this backdrop that India finally announced the abrogation of the Agreement until Pakistan, the global epicenter of terrorism, credibly and irreversibly ends its support for cross-border and all other forms of terrorism,” Mr. Harish said. he said.