India has sharply rejected Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s claim that Islamabad emerged victorious from the May military confrontation with India.

Exercising India’s right of reply at the United Nations General Assembly, Petal Gahlot, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, accused Sharif of distorting the events surrounding Operation Sindoor.

Sharif had described Pakistan’s military response as a major success and claimed that its armed forces had repulsed India’s operations. He also asserted that Pakistani fighter aircraft had shot down seven Indian jets, sending them to “scrap and dust”.

Gahlot dismissed the Pakistani leader’s account as an attempt to present a military setback as a triumph.

“The intervening event was the destruction caused to multiple Pakistani air bases by Indian forces,” she said, adding that photographs of the damage were publicly accessible.

“If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” Gahlot said.

She further stated that Pakistan’s military had directly sought a cessation of hostilities on 10 May, following the damage inflicted on several of its air bases.

The exchange followed a four-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan from 7 to 10 May 2025. India launched Operation Sindoor after the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.

India has said the operation targeted terrorist infrastructure, while Pakistan portrayed its military response as an act of national defence.

Gahlot also criticised Islamabad’s conduct at the UN Security Council, where Pakistan had opposed efforts to hold The Resistance Front responsible for the Pahalgam attack.

India has described the organisation as a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist group. New Delhi accused Pakistan of shielding those responsible for the massacre while attempting to use the UN platform to promote its version of events.

The Indian diplomat also rejected any suggestion that a third party was required to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad, maintaining that issues between the two countries should be addressed bilaterally.

The sharp exchange at the UNGA underscored the continuing diplomatic dispute over the May confrontation, with both countries presenting conflicting accounts of the military outcome.

Agencies