India blasted Pakistan at the United Nations on Monday for spreading state-sponsored misinformation by branding militant groups operating within its own borders as “Fitna al Hindustan”.
Addressing a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, said Pakistan was trying to shift blame on India.
Last year, Pakistan designated several militant organisations active in the province under that label and alleged that they were acting at India’s behest. Islamabad, however, did not provide evidence to support those claims.
Responding to the move, the Indian envoy said the terminology was designed to mislead both Pakistani citizens and the international community.
“Pakistan coming up with official notifications, directing its government agencies to start referring to groups inside its own borders as ‘Fitna al Hindustan’, is nothing but officially sponsored misinformation and disinformation dressed in religious terminology,” Parvathaneni said, as quoted by PTI.
He said that the narrative was part of an effort by Pakistan’s establishment to maintain hostility towards India. Calling it “an organised factory of hate”, he said the campaign was aimed at keeping Pakistan’s population focused on external threats rather than domestic political and economic challenges.
The Indian envoy also took aim at Pakistan’s political structure and the role of the military in governance. Parvathaneni described the country’s recent constitutional changes as evidence of increasing military influence over civilian institutions.
INDIA CONDEMNS PAK’S ATTACK ON AFGHANISTAN
India also criticised Pakistan’s military operations inside Afghanistan, accusing Islamabad of causing civilian casualties through air strikes.
“Let me reiterate. Dressing up a massacre as a military operation does not absolve the perpetrator. Killing, maiming and orphaning civilians is not counter terrorism,” he said.
He added that “espousing high principles of international law and Islamic solidarity while mercilessly carrying out air strikes during the holy month of Ramadan is the perfect example of hypocrisy.”
Concluding his remarks, Parvathaneni said Pakistan had a long history of blaming neighbouring countries for its own failures.
India’s criticism comes against the backdrop of a sharp escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this year. In February 2026, Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan killed at least 13 civilians, including women and children, according to the United Nations. The violence quickly spiralled into the worst confrontation between the two neighbours in years, with both sides carrying out cross-border strikes and military operations. By March, the UN reported at least 42 civilians killed and 104 injured in Afghanistan, while more than 100,000 people had been displaced by the fighting.
Tensions rose further after Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul that they said killed more than 400 people, while the UN verified at least 269 deaths.
While a temporary pause helped prevent a wider conflict, violence has continued to flare along the border.
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With inputs from agencies