Pakistan’s Sharif criticises India and praises Trump at UN assembly

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used his address to the UN General Assembly to criticise India, praise US President Donald Trump and call for diplomacy in the Middle East. Sharif alleged that Pakistan had faced external aggression from India during last year’s limited military clashes. He said Pakistan had exercised its right of self-defence and praised the country’s military for repelling the attack.

India says its missile strikes on May 7 were retaliation for an attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in late April. New Delhi accused Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism, an allegation Islamabad denied. Sharif credited Trump with helping to broker a truce when the two nuclear-armed neighbours were close to a wider war.

He said a lasting settlement would require a “just and fair” resolution of the Kashmir dispute and criticised what he called attempts to alter the region’s legal status through demographic changes. He also criticised India’s decision to place the Indus River System treaty in abeyance, saying the move had no legal basis. The source material does not include an Indian response to his address.

Turning to the Middle East, Sharif said Pakistan had sought to mediate in the US-Iran conflict. He warned that the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb were vital to the global economy and should not become confrontation points. Sharif condemned Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and urged the voice of diplomacy to grow louder.

The assembly also heard climate warnings from Pacific island leaders and a call from Albania’s prime minister for safeguards against technology being used by the wrong people.