Blitz Bureau
United Nations, April 29 : In a scathing rebuke at the United Nations, India branded Pakistan a “rogue state fuelling global terrorism,” using Pakistan’s own Defence Minister’s confession as damning evidence.
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative, Yojna Patel, speaking at the launch of the UN’s Victims of Terrorism Associations Network (VoTAN), said the world could no longer afford the luxury of ignoring Pakistan’s role in nurturing, training, and financing terrorism.
“The world has heard it from their own Defence Minister,” Patel said, referencing Khawaja Asif’s stunning admission during an interview with Sky News. When asked if Pakistan had backed terrorist organizations, Asif unhesitatingly replied, “Yes.”
He even attempted to deflect blame by recalling Cold War-era cooperation with the West in Afghanistan, but that historical footnote, Patel made clear, does nothing to excuse Pakistan’s continued export of terrorism, particularly across its eastern border into India.
“This open confession exposes Pakistan’s true character — a state that glorifies terrorism, destabilizes its neighbors, and endangers global peace,” Patel said bluntly. “The era of polite silence is over. The world must act.”
The timing of Asif’s admission could not have been more striking. It came as Pakistan’s own diplomat, Jawad Ajmal, tried to smear India by hinting that it sponsored the recent Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attack on a Pakistani passenger train. Ajmal, carefully avoiding naming India outright, repeated the military’s unsubstantiated allegations, a tactic India slammed as “propaganda” and “baseless.”
Meanwhile, Patel reminded the UN that a Pakistan-based group — a Lashkar-e-Taiba front calling itself the Resistance Front — had openly claimed responsibility for last week’s horrific Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Twenty-six innocent civilians, including tourists, were slaughtered — the worst such massacre since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Adding insult to tragedy, Pakistan’s envoy, while offering token condolences, referred to the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir as “Indian Illegally Occupied,” betraying Pakistan’s real agenda: politicizing terror, not fighting it.
“Having endured the agony of cross-border terrorism for decades, India understands the deep wounds it leaves behind — on victims, on families, on entire nations,” Patel said.
“But today, the international community stands together. The outpouring of solidarity after Pahalgam shows that there is no room left for excuses, no tolerance left for terror.”
The UN’s VoTAN initiative, bringing together victims and survivors, was intended to be a solemn forum of remembrance and resilience — not a stage for misinformation and deflection.
India’s message was clear: No more hiding. No more lying. Pakistan’s own voice has betrayed it. The world must finally hold it accountable.
