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India on Wednesday slammed Pakistan's attempt to “mischaracterise” Operation Sindoor and said when a state harbours terrorists who massacre innocents, defensive action is not just a right, but a solemn duty.

India launched Operation Sindoor following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.

“The world sees through Pakistan's theatre of deception,” Counsellor at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva Kshitij Tyagi told the UN Human Rights Council session here.

He pointed out that Pakistani terrorists turned a serene sanctuary in Jammu and Kashmir into a killing field on April 22, “carrying out a barbaric execution of 26 Indian tourists in Pahalgam in front of their families.” The UN Security Council rightly condemned this reprehensible act of terrorism and called for all perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors to be held accountable, Tyagi said. “And we all know that those sponsors operate from Pakistani soil.” Coming down heavily on Pakistan's attempt to “mischaracterise Operation Sindoor,” the Indian diplomat said, “When a state harbours terrorists who massacre innocence, defensive action is not just a right, it is a solemn duty.” “From hosting Osama bin Laden in its military cantonment to conducting state funerals for globally sanctioned terrorists, Pakistan never fails to disappoint. It claims victimhood while remaining the acknowledged epicenter of Jihadist terror,” he asserted.

Earlier, Tyagi started by saying that India is constrained to exercise its right of reply, to address Pakistan's deeply troubling statement, which he said “seeks, with breathtaking audacity, to invert victim and perpetrator as usual, to deflect attention from its own record of shame.” Pakistan chose to spend almost its entire speaking time, not engaging with the High Commissioner's comprehensive review of the global human rights situation, but obsessively focused on India with its tired, fabricated narrative, he added.

Among the several punitive measures taken by India after the April 22 Pahalgam attack was putting the 1960 vintage Indus Water Treaty into abeyance, a step hugely criticised by Pakistan.

Referring to Pakistan's comments on the Indus Waters Treaty, Tyagi said, “Despite India's steadfast adherence for over six decades, Pakistan has misused the Treaty's procedures to obstruct India's legitimate projects, while shredding its spirit through sustained hostility and cross-border terror.” He also listed reasons for a “reassessment” of the Indus Water Treaty -- climate imperatives, technological advances, clean energy needs and “Pakistan's persistent sponsorship of terror.” “When a nation violates the foundation of a Treaty, it forfeits the right to invoke its protections,” Tyagi said, adding, “A nation cannot serve terror and expect to reap sympathy. The world sees through Pakistan's theatre of deception.” India will continue to act with responsibility and resolve to protect its citizens, its sovereignty and its values, as any nation must, he added.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)