Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday raised the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly and credited US President Donald Trump’s "timely intervention" for helping broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during their 2025 conflict, while also warning that any attempt by India to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of river waters would be treated as an “act of war”.
Addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Sharif said South Asia must not return to the brink of conflict and called for a “just and fair” resolution to the Kashmir issue. He also praised Trump’s “resolute and visionary leadership” in brokering the May 2025 ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
He said the intervention had saved “hundreds of millions of lives”.
“Who knows the extent of devastation that could have taken place had President Trump not stepped in at this critical moment with clarity of thought and action?” he said.
“We must therefore ensure that South Asia never reaches this precipice ever again.”
Sharif said ensuring lasting peace in the region required a resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
“For eight decades, the Kashmiri people have waited for the United Nations to fulfill its solemn commitment of a free and impartial plebiscite,” he said, alleging that generations of Kashmiris had endured “illegal occupation, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence and collective punishment”.
He said Pakistan would continue to provide diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris until they secured their right to self-determination, referring to Kashmir as “Pakistan’s jugular vein”.
India has repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s assertions on Kashmir made at the UNGA forum as well as on other UN platforms, saying that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.
As is done every year, India will field one of its youngest diplomats serving in its Permanent Mission to the UN to exercise its Right of Reply and respond to the Pakistani leader’s UNGA address.
Sharif also addressed last year’s conflict with India, which followed the terror attack in Pahalgam that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan has denied the allegations.
India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that had killed 26 civilians.
Sharif praised Pakistan’s armed forces for their response during the conflict and again credited Trump with brokering the ceasefire.
US President Trump has repeatedly claimed, as recently as in his address to the UN General Assembly this week, that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
Sharif also warned India against any move to divert Pakistan’s share of river waters.
“Water must never be weaponised. Rivers should nourish nations, not divide them. Therefore, any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of the waters will be treated as an act of war. India must make no mistake about it,” Dawn quoted Sharif as saying.
He criticised India’s unilateral decision to hold the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance since last year’s conflict, arguing that the move had no legal basis.
Sharif said Pakistan’s position on the treaty had been supported by findings from UN experts and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which he said had left Islamabad “vindicated beyond any doubt”.
Sharif began his address by describing the pursuit of peace as “among the noblest of human endeavours”.
He said Pakistan’s national outlook and its conduct at home and abroad had been shaped by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s support for the UN Charter.
The Pakistani prime minister also spoke about the conflict in the Gulf region and the wider West Asia, highlighting the loss of lives, economic hardship and pressure on key maritime routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz.
“At this critical moment, Pakistan chose to act swiftly. Through concerted efforts, Pakistan brought Washington and Tehran under one roof in Islamabad,” PM Shehbaz said, referring to the Islamabad Talks that resulted in the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding by the United States and Iran in June.
“Amid the roar of missiles, drones and guns, the voice for diplomacy must echo even louder and stronger,” the Pakistani PM said.
“The Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab are arteries of the global economy. They must remain open, connecting nations, not becoming choke points of confrontation,” he added.
Sharif also condemned, “in the strongest possible terms”, recent attacks by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia, describing them as “deplorable” and expressing Pakistan’s complete solidarity with the kingdom.
He referred to the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed by Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia as a reflection of Islamabad’s commitment to peace and stability in the region.
“This alliance is not directed against any country; it is a collective commitment for defence, stability and peace in the region, and nothing more,” he stressed.