Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has accused India of launching what he described as external aggression against Pakistan during last year’s military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, while calling for a “just and fair” resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Sharif made the remarks on Friday during his address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he also praised Pakistan’s military response to the 2025 clashes and credited United States President Donald Trump with helping to broker a ceasefire.
According to Sharif, Pakistan exercised its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter following what he described as India’s aggression. He praised the country’s armed forces for repelling the attack, while India has maintained that its military action was in response to the Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
The confrontation in May 2025 lasted several days before a ceasefire was reached. The two countries have continued to differ over the circumstances that led to the fighting, with Pakistan rejecting India’s allegations concerning cross-border terrorism.
Sharif thanked Trump for what he described as “resolute and visionary leadership,” saying the US president’s intervention helped prevent the conflict from escalating between the two nuclear-armed countries. He warned that South Asia must not return to a situation in which a wider conflict becomes possible.
The Pakistani leader said achieving lasting stability in the region would require a resolution of the Kashmir dispute. He argued that the people of Kashmir had waited decades for the United Nations to fulfil what Pakistan considers its commitment to a free and impartial plebiscite.
Sharif also criticised what he described as efforts to alter the legal and demographic status of Jammu and Kashmir, while calling for greater international attention to the dispute.
He further criticised India’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, arguing that the move lacked a legal basis. The dispute over the treaty has added another layer to already strained relations between the two countries.
Sharif’s address again placed Kashmir and the Indus Waters dispute at the centre of Pakistan’s diplomatic messaging at the United Nations, while urging measures to prevent a recurrence of the military confrontation between the two neighbours.
