‘A terrorist country is asking me...’: EAM Jaishankar hits back at Pakistani reporter at UN briefing

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday responded sharply to a Pakistani reporter who attempted to raise a question on terrorism during a press briefing in New York, saying, “A terrorist country is asking me that question.” The exchange took place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Jaishankar was addressing a press conference along with Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti. The briefing was centred on the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers and had reportedly been announced as a remarks-only interaction.

Towards the end of the briefing, a Pakistani reporter interrupted and attempted to ask a question related to terrorism. Jaishankar responded by referring to Pakistan as a “terrorist country”, bringing the issue of cross-border terrorism back into focus amid continuing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.

The External Affairs Minister is in New York as part of the Indian delegation for the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week. He is scheduled to address the High-Level Session on Saturday and has held several bilateral and plurilateral meetings during his visit.

India’s position on cross-border terrorism

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of allowing terrorist groups operating from its territory and has called on Islamabad to take credible and verifiable action against cross-border terrorism.

New Delhi has also maintained that its military response following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack was an exercise of its right to defend itself. The attack killed 26 civilians.

India subsequently launched Operation Sindoor, targeting what the government described as terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The government has maintained that the operation was directed at terrorist networks and infrastructure.

India has also highlighted international references to the Pahalgam attack and terrorism at multilateral forums, including a UN Security Council press statement issued in April 2025.

TRF designation by US

The Resistance Front (TRF), which India has described as a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist on July 18, 2025.

India has maintained that TRF was involved in the Pahalgam attack. A UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee report also referred to links between TRF and the attack.

Pakistan and FATF scrutiny

Pakistan was placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list three times, with its most recent period running from June 2018 to October 2022. During enhanced monitoring, Pakistan was required to strengthen measures to identify and disrupt terrorist financing and prosecute those involved in financing terrorist organisations.

The latest Jaishankar-reporter exchange comes against this broader backdrop of continued India-Pakistan tensions over terrorism and security. India has consistently used international forums to press its position that terrorism should not be normalised or treated as a political issue.