Monitoring Desk: Here is “Right of Reply” presented by Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Additional Secretary (AP) in response to India’s baseless allegations at the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum Meeting.
Mr. Chairman,
We have once again been treated to India’s habitual exercise in deflection, a familiar blend of indignation, half-truths, and theatrical victimhood.
Let us begin with the charge of terrorism, a subject India invokes with great enthusiasm, and even greater hypocrisy. While pointing fingers, India forgets that its own hands are elbow-deep in regional destabilization and violence. A serving Indian naval officer, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, was apprehended inside Pakistan, directing terrorist networks and sponsoring attacks under the auspices of state agencies. India’s covert footprint is not confined to Pakistan. Its destabilization playbook has left fingerprints across South Asia. Judging by its actions, India appears determined to serve as the regional distribution centre for terrorism, subversion, and chaos.
And while India sermonizes with moral indignation, it conveniently ignores its campaign of extrajudicial assassinations on foreign soil. These operations were publicly exposed by Pakistan in January 2024, backed by irrefutable evidence.
On Jammu and Kashmir, India once again offered an imaginative interpretation of international law. It was, in fact, India that brought the issue to the United Nations Security Council. When the Council responded, India chose defiance over compliance. What followed was a sustained campaign of brutal suppression. Jammu and Kashmir cannot become “integral” simply by repetition, especially not from an election rally. The people of Kashmir are entitled to the right of self-determination.
As for the Indus Waters Treaty, India now believes it can unilaterally hold it in abeyance, simply because it feels uncomfortable. This is not statecraft, it is vandalism. When a country treats its own written commitments as optional, it invites the world to treat its words the same way.
Lastly, let us not ignore the ideological elephant in the room. The fascistic campaigns drawn straight from the RSS playbook pose a grave threat to regional peace. When water becomes a weapon and treaties are discarded like campaign flyers, one must ask, what next? Let there be no ambiguity, Pakistan is fully capable of countering any future aggressive action against its sovereignty and territorial integrity. It has, however, always preferred dialogue to resolve issues over military confrontations.
We urge India to return to civility, legality, and above all, reality.
Thank you.
