September 28, 2024: In a pointed response to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), India has condemned Pakistan's longstanding use of terrorism and its claims over Jammu and Kashmir. During her right of reply, Indian diplomat Bhavika Mangalanandan articulated India's position, asserting that Pakistan's efforts to disrupt democracy in the region only underline its own history of violence and terrorism.

Mangalanandan criticized Sharif for his remarks equating the situation in Jammu and Kashmir to that of Palestine, labeling such comparisons as misguided. She emphasized that Pakistan has consistently employed cross-border terrorism as a tactic against India, referencing high-profile attacks including the assault on the Indian Parliament and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "For such a country to speak about violence anywhere is hypocrisy at its worst," she stated.

Sharif, in his UNGA address, called on India to engage in dialogue and reconsider the abrogation of Article 370, which previously granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He insisted on the need for a mutual strategic restraint regime, claiming India had rejected Pakistan's proposals and accused it of threatening incursions across the Line of Control (LoC).

In her response, Mangalanandan highlighted the irony of Pakistan, a nation with a history of electoral manipulation, critiquing India's democratic processes. "The world knows of Pakistan's track record; it is extraordinary for them to talk about political choices in a democracy," she remarked.