Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif turned a blind eye and remained silent when confronted with direct queries regarding Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and mastermind Hafiz Saeed during his official visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The premier was attending the prestigious 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly when he was approached by persistent journalists seeking clear accountability regarding Pakistan's continued sheltering of cross-border terrorists.

As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made his entry into the prominent UN headquarters, media personnel directly asked him when his administration intended to stop harbouring notorious terrorists on its soil, but he chose not to respond.

Later, while making his exit from the diplomatic venue, the Pakistani Prime Minister was questioned yet again by reporters about when his government would formally prosecute the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif maintained his stonewalling stance, walking past without offering any response or official statement to the waiting press corps.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, originally hailing from the Sargodha district in Pakistan's Punjab province, is a designated terrorist under India's stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the founding chief of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The designated operative remains a prime wanted accused in the infamous 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, which caused widespread devastation and took numerous innocent lives.

In recent legal developments, India's premier anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency, established that the gruesome Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April 2025 was masterminded by Pakistan-based operatives belonging to the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba network.

In its supplementary chargesheet submitted before the designated court, the National Investigation Agency formally listed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed as Accused Number 8, highlighting his central role in weaving the broader cross-border conspiracy.

Just a day prior to this incident at the UN headquarters, India delivered a sharp and uncompromising diplomatic rebuke to Pakistan on the international platform.

New Delhi firmly asked Islamabad to divert its attention and governance efforts towards repairing its collapsing, debt-burdened economy that depends entirely on external financial bailouts, rather than harbouring illicit territorial ambitions or exporting cross-border terrorism.

Exercising the nation's right of reply at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi dismantled Pakistan's persistent diversionary rhetoric, pointing out that aggressive grandstanding would not assist in saving its failing financial apparatus.

Highlighting how Pakistan's national priorities were completely misplaced, Kshitij Tyagi stated that Pakistan would better serve its populace by concentrating on development rather than coveting the territory of others or exporting terror to neighbouring nations.

The Indian diplomat noted that neither international theatrics in the Council nor cross-border hostility would assist Islamabad in generating funds to repay the massive loans keeping its national economy afloat.

Kshitij Tyagi further exposed the stark internal hypocrisy of the Pakistani state, drawing attention to the state-sponsored suppression of civilians and the severe humanitarian crisis unfolding in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

He pointed out that regional protests in the occupied territory were met with brutal state violence, accompanied by deliberate blockades on fundamental necessities including food supplies, essential fuel, and life-saving medicine.

Highlighting the grave governance failures of Islamabad, Kshitij Tyagi reminded the Council that it had been briefed about scores of innocent civilians killed in the illegally occupied territories, along with student arrests in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

He stated that when these serious human rights violations were raised, Pakistan merely hid behind procedural points of order, concluding that if any nation met every objective criterion for intense international scrutiny by the Council, it was Pakistan.

ANI