Washington DC, July 24 -- India condemned Pakistan's sponsorship of cross border terrorism at the United Nations on Tuesday at a high-level open debate chaired by Islamabad. "I am also constrained to respond to the remarks made by the representative of Pakistan. The Indian subcontinent offers a stark contrast in terms of progress, prosperity and development models. On the one hand, there is India which is a mature democracy, a surging economy and a pluralistic and inclusive society. At the other extreme is Pakistan, steeped in fanaticism and terrorism, and a serial borrower from the IMF," said Ambassador P Harish, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The debate was one of two signature events planned by Pakistan as part of its Presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of July. The presidency of the UNSC, the UN's top decision making body, rotates every month between its 15 members. India was responding to a statement made earlier in the day by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar who condemned India's "occupation" of Jammu and Kashmir. Dar also questioned India's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. Through the high level open debate, Pakistan has pushed for greater international involvement in the mediation of disputes, which would presumably also include Kashmir. In response, India stated that consent of the parties to a dispute was crucial to ensure the peaceful resolution of international conflicts. New Delhi has resisted international mediation on the Kashmir issue in favour of dealing with the dispute bilaterally. India also called for costs to be imposed on nations that sponsor cross border terrorism before defending India's actions in Operation Sindoor, which was launched in May as a response to the Pahalgam terror attack. "Recently, consequent to the gruesome terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025 that led to the killing of 26 innocent tourists, and based on the Council Statement of 25 April where members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), which was focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature," Harish added. "As we debate promoting international peace and security, it is essential to recognize that there are some fundamental principles which need to be universally respected. One of them is zero tolerance for terrorism. It ill behoves a member of the Council to offer homilies while indulging in practices that are unacceptable to the international community," he said....