India slammed Pakistan for making “unwarranted” remarks on Jammu and Kashmir at an informal UN Security Council meeting organised by Beijing and Islamabad, asserting that the Union Territory is a matter “strictly internal” to the country.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, made the remarks on Tuesday (June 23, 2026) at an Arria-formula meeting of the Security Council on ‘Bridging the Implementation Gap: Security Council Resolutions and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security’.

“I also refer to the unwarranted remarks made by the representative of Pakistan. It is incredible that a co-chair expected to be balanced and unbiased in conduct has chosen to politicise this forum,” Mr. Harish said.

“I would only like to stress, for brevity of time, that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter strictly internal to India. It has always been, is, and will remain so,” he said.

Mr. Harish’s remarks came after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue during his intervention at the meeting, which was organised by the Permanent Missions of Pakistan and China to the United Nations.

Pakistan is currently serving an elected two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2025 and 2026.

India has consistently maintained that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of the country.

Relations between India and Pakistan have remained strained over the Kashmir issue, with New Delhi firmly rejecting any third-party mediation and maintaining that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter.

Arria-formula meetings are informal and confidential gatherings that allow Security Council members and invited participants to exchange views in a flexible setting. The format is named after former Venezuelan ambassador Diego Arria, who initiated the practice in 1992.

Elaborating on the broader subject under discussion, Mr. Harish said the UN Security Council is entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and security and that the UN Charter provides distinct mechanisms for addressing conflicts under Chapters VI and VII.

He noted that these two Chapters are distinct in nature and their applicability varies.

Mr. Harish said Chapter VII measures are “aimed at maintenance or restoration of international peace and security” in situations involving threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression, and their non-implementation could lead to “serious consequences”.

Chapter VI, the Envoy said, is “fundamentally different” and offers a wide-ranging set of options to deal with situations whose continuance is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security.

The proposed tools that could be considered include negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration after taking into account any procedures that may have already been adopted bilaterally by the parties concerned.

“These interventions are drawn up in order to address the prevailing realities and do not have perpetual validity. They warrant a review in accordance with changing circumstances and contexts,” Mr. Harish said.

“Multi-decadal issues on the UNSC agenda offer valuable lessons in this regard. A case in point is the Palestine issue, wherein a defining feature is the constant churn of mediation frameworks in tune with the changing circumstances of the conflict.

“There exists an undeniable case for reviewing outdated mediation frameworks. Any assumption of the perpetual applicability of a Chapter VI mediation intervention is erroneous to say the least,” he said.

India also underlined that, as member states undertake reviews of UN General Assembly mandates under the UN80 initiative to improve efficiency, there is no reason why Security Council mandates should remain outside the scope of such reviews.

India has long been pressing for permanent membership in a reformed and expanded Security Council, contending that the current structure of the 15-member body is outdated and does not adequately reflect contemporary global realities.

New Delhi’s candidature has received backing from a growing number of countries, including several European nations, as well as the other members of the G4 grouping — Brazil, Germany and Japan.

UNSC comprises five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — and 10 non-permanent members, including India, elected for two-year terms.

Published – June 24, 2026 12:38 pm IST

New Delhi:

India has reiterated that matters pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are “purely internal” and Pakistan cannot comment on its domestic matters. The strong remarks came a day after Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar raised the Kashmir bogey at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“Pakistan has become a habitual offender when it comes to misusing this August forum to peddle baseless and malicious propaganda against India,” Petal Gahlot, First Secretary for second committee of General Assembly, said on Saturday.

Pakistan does so to deflect the international community’s attention away from its own abysmal record on human rights, she said.

“J&K Purely Integral To India”

Pakistan’s Mr Kakar yesterday said Kashmir is the “key to peace” between the two neighbours.

“We reiterate that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir are an integral part of India. Matters pertaining to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are purely internal to India. Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on our domestic matters,” she asserted in response.

India tore into Pakistan for having the “world’s worst human rights records”, especially those of the minority and women. “Pakistan would do well to put its own house in order before venturing to point a finger at the world’s largest democracy,” Ms Gahlot said.

She sought to remind Pakistan its “glaring example of systemic violence against minorities” – the incident in August in which several churches and Christian houses were burnt down in Faisalabad district.

An estimated 1,000 women from minority communities are kidnapped, forcefully converted and married off in Pakistan every year, Ms Gahlot said cited a report by Pakistan’s own Human Rights Commission.

“Take Action Against Mumbai Attack Perpetrators”

India also slammed Pakistan for providing a safe haven to terrorists and called on its government to take action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.

“Pakistan has been the home and patron to the largest number of internationally prescribed terrorist entities and individuals in the world,” she said. “Instead of engaging in technical sophistry, we call upon Pakistan to take credible and verifiable action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks whose victims await justice even after 15 years.”

India also listed three steps that Pakistan must take to ensure peace in South Asia: “First, stop cross-border terrorism and shut down its infrastructure of terrorism immediately. Second, vacate Indian territories under its illegal and forcible occupation. And third, stop the grave and persistent human rights violations against the minorities in Pakistan,” said Ms Gahlot.