Key points
- Warns Pakistan will not compromise on Indus water rights
- Calls Indian treaty violations a defiance of international law norms
- Declares any threat to Indus waters an act of war
NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, addressing the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday, framed Pakistan’s foreign policy around a firm commitment to peace, dialogue, and “result-oriented” solutions to global and regional crises.
While extending a sincere offer for comprehensive dialogue with India, the Prime Minister issued a resolute warning that Pakistan would “not compromise” on its water rights under the Indus Waters Treaty.
A call for South Asian peace
Emphasising that multilateralism is the “need of the hour,” PM Sharif reaffirmed that Pakistan’s policy is guided by the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes through diplomacy.
“We have won the war, now we seek to win peace,” PM Sharif declared, extending an offer for a “composite, comprehensive, peace-oriented dialogue with India on all outstanding issues.” He stressed that the region requires “productive rather than provocative leadership.”
While expressing gratitude for US President Donald Trump’s “bold and visionary leadership” in facilitating a ceasefire with India—an effort for which he nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize—Sharif made it clear that Pakistan’s military response to aggression was decisive.
No Compromise on Water Security
In a forceful statement aimed at protecting Pakistan’s vital resources, the Prime Minister issued a clear warning regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
He asserted that India’s unilateral attempt to violate the treaty “defies the provisions of the treaty itself as well as the norms of international law.” PM Sharif vowed that Pakistan would “fiercely and honourably defend the inseparable right of our 240 million people on these waters of this Indus.” He further warned that any challenge to these rights would be viewed as an “act of war.”
Just and lasting solutions
The speech pivoted to other long-standing international disputes, where the Prime Minister demanded decisive action from the global community.
Regarding Kashmir, PM Sharif called for a swift resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, stating that the people’s right to self-determination, promised under UN resolutions, must be granted. He expressed confidence that “India’s tyranny in Kashmir will come to a grinding halt.”
On the Palestine Crisis, the Prime Minister demanded an immediate ceasefire to halt the “genocidal onslaught” in Gaza, describing the plight of the Palestinians as the “most heart-wrenching tragedy” and a “collective moral failure.” He reiterated Pakistan’s firm support for a sovereign Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders.
Concerning Terrorism, highlighting the country’s sacrifice of 90,000 lives and $150 billion in economic losses, PM Sharif underscored Pakistan’s role as a bulwark against this global threat.
He also called on the Afghan interim government to take “concrete and verifiable action” to ensure its soil is not used by terrorist groups like the TTP against any country.
Climate justice and debt relief
Concluding with an appeal for global equity, PM Sharif highlighted the climate crisis and the burden of international debt, particularly for developing nations like Pakistan, which are highly vulnerable to catastrophic floods yet contribute less than one per cent to global carbon emissions.
He criticised the current financial system, stating that asking developing countries to add “loans over loans is not fairness, this is not justice, this is not fair play, urging the world to honour its commitments to climate finance.
Prime Minister Sharif’s UNGA address comes on the heels of his Oval Office meeting with President Trump on Thursday, where he was accompanied by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
During the Oval Office meeting, Sharif and Trump discussed issues of mutual interest as well as regional and global developments.
The meeting, which was closed to the press, lasted approximately one hour and 20 minutes. In images released by a media company from the White House, PM Sharif, Field Marshal Munir, and US President Trump were seen engaged in cordial discussions.
Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday also joined an Arab-Islamic Summit hosted by US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in New York, where Muslim leaders discussed ways to end the war in Gaza.
