He said, “Pakistan’s reputation speaks for itself. Its fingerprints are so visible in terrorism across so many geographies. It is a menace not only to its neighbours but to the entire world.” He added, “No arguments or untruths can ever whitewash the crimes of terroristan.”

When the Pakistani delegate again took the floor, Srinivas walked out of the hall.

In its Right of Reply, the Pakistani delegate accused India of attempting to “malign Pakistan” with “malicious accusations” about terrorism, even though Jaishankar had not named the country in his address while talking about the scourge of terrorism. The Pakistani delegate claimed that India’s allegations were a “deliberate attempt to repeat lies”.

Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar told the UN General Assembly that “major international terrorist attacks are traced back to that one country.” Without naming Pakistan, he referred to a “neighbour that is an epicentre of global terrorism” and said India has faced this challenge since independence.

He urged the international community to condemn states that adopt terrorism as policy, operate hubs on an industrial scale, and glorify terrorists. He called for choking financing, sanctioning individuals, and applying “relentless pressure on the entire terrorism eco-system.”

Jaishankar said the UN’s list of designated terrorists “is replete with its nationals”. In his 16-minute address, Jaishankar, without naming Pakistan, told the world body that “India exercised its right to defend its people against terrorism and brought its organisers and perpetrators to justice” after the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year.

Emphasising on India’s three pillars, Atmanirbharta (self-reliance), Atmaraksha (self-protection) and Atmavishwas (self-confidence), he said, “When it came to trade, non-market practices gamed rules and regimes….we now see tariff volatility and uncertain market access as a result” – a veiled reference to the Trump administration’s moves on high tariffs on countries including India.-Agencies