NextFin News - On December 15, 2025, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during an open debate on "Leadership for Peace," India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador P. Harish Parvathaneni, delivered a forceful statement targeting Pakistan’s domestic political trajectory and its sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. This high-profile confrontation unfolded against the backdrop of Pakistan’s recent remarks about the Jammu & Kashmir region and references to the Indus Waters Treaty.
Addressing the Security Council, Harish reaffirmed India's position that Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of India, condemning Pakistan’s “obsessive focus” on these territories. The Indian envoy severely criticized Pakistan’s conduct as a non-permanent member of the Council, calling its fixation on India a divisive agenda reliant on undermining India’s sovereignty.
India detailed its suspension of participation in the Indus Waters Treaty earlier in 2025, triggered by a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives. Harish emphasized that the treaty, established 65 years ago in a spirit of goodwill, had been repeatedly violated by Pakistan through aggressive acts including three wars and ongoing terror campaigns. He stipulated that India would resume treaty engagements only after Pakistan conclusively ends support for all forms of terrorism.
Beyond security concerns, the Ambassador highlighted Pakistan’s internal political degradation. Referencing the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the banning of his political party, and the recently enacted 27th constitutional amendment granting lifetime immunity to the Pakistan Army Chief, General Asim Munir, he portrayed Pakistan as drifting toward military autocracy and democratic erosion. This critique underscored the role of Pakistan's military establishment in shaping governance and perpetuating instability in South Asia.
The address concluded with a call for urgent UN Security Council reforms, emphasizing that the current structure is anachronistic and inadequate for contemporary global challenges, echoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ warnings about the need for change.
The confrontation at the UN mirrored longstanding bilateral tensions characterized by territorial disputes, terrorism, and governance challenges. India's detailed enumeration of Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks, including the April 2025 Pahalgam massacre with religious targeting of civilians, reaffirms data trends showing that terrorism continues to be a core issue undermining regional security and destabilizing the bilateral dialogue.
Pakistan’s political turbulence—marked by suppressing electoral outcomes and empowering military leadership—exacerbates instability not only within its borders but across the subcontinent. Embedding lifetime immunity to the army chief through constitutional amendment exemplifies a consolidation of power that historically has correlated with an aggressive stance toward India, complicating diplomatic respite.
India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, an iconic bilateral water-sharing agreement long viewed as a diplomatic bridge, carries significant geopolitical and economic ramifications. Approximately 80% of the waters allocated by the treaty flow from India to Pakistan, supporting Pakistani agriculture and livelihoods. By holding the treaty in abeyance, New Delhi pressures Islamabad to alter its policies but also risks escalating water-related tensions, particularly as climate change intensifies regional water scarcity.
Looking forward, India’s articulation at the UN signals a strategic push to internationalize Pakistan’s sponsorship of terror and democratic backsliding. This may increase multilateral scrutiny, potentially influencing U.S. President Trump’s administration’s South Asia policy, which has so far emphasized counterterrorism cooperation and regional stability. The emphasis on Security Council reform points to a desire among emerging powers like India to reshape global governance mechanisms to be more representative and effective against threats such as state-sponsored terrorism.
Moreover, India’s firm stance on Jammu & Kashmir reiterates its territorial claims and rejection of Pakistan’s narrative, reducing the prospects for negotiation absent significant political changes in Islamabad. Given the trend of militarization of Pakistan’s political system and recurrent terror incidents, analysts expect heightened diplomatic friction and episodic cross-border escalations through 2026.
In sum, the December 2025 UN debate crystallizes strategic challenges at the nexus of security, governance, and international law in South Asia. India’s data-backed condemnation of Pakistan’s terrorism sponsorship and political autocracy seeks to delegitimize Islamabad’s global standing, while pressing for systemic global institutional reforms aligned with emerging geopolitical realities.
