“Won’t Bow to Nuclear Blackmail”: India Warns Pak at UN

GG News Bureau
United Nation, 11th Oct: India has firmly rejected the use of nuclear threats to constrain its response to terrorism, with diplomat Anmol Sher Singh Bedi asserting at the United Nations that New Delhi would defend itself against cross-border attacks while continuing to seek regional peace.

Exercising India’s right of reply during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly’s First Committee, Bedi challenged Pakistan’s delegation over terrorism, nuclear proliferation and regional instability. He defended India’s military action following the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians, and said the response in May was measured and intended to avoid wider escalation.

“India does not seek conflict,” Bedi said, warning that without accountability for reckless actions, peace could become merely “a pause between crises”.

‘India Will Not Bow to Nuclear Blackmail’
Bedi rejected the suggestion that the threat of nuclear escalation should prevent India from responding to terrorist attacks. He argued that nuclear weapons must not become a shield for activities carried out below the threshold of conventional war.

“Nuclear weapons must not be treated as routine instruments of statecraft,” he said, cautioning that reliance on nuclear deterrence to limit the consequences of such activities could increase the risk of escalation rather than encourage restraint.

The diplomat also stressed that states could not evade responsibility for violence by operating through non-state actors. He said India’s position remained clear: terrorist attacks would receive a fitting response, India would not bow to nuclear blackmail, and New Delhi would make no distinction between those who sponsor terrorism and those who mastermind it.

Indus Waters Treaty and Nuclear Proliferation
The Indian representative also raised the Indus Waters Treaty, signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 with the World Bank’s involvement. Bedi argued that the agreement rested on good faith and cooperation, saying a state could not undermine those foundations while continuing to demand the benefits arising from the relationship.

On nuclear proliferation, he referred to the history of the AQ Khan network, which became a major international concern over the transfer of nuclear technology and expertise. He also invoked UN Security Council Resolution 1540, adopted in 2004, which requires states to prevent non-state actors from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and related materials.

Bedi urged countries and responsible suppliers to exercise the highest degree of vigilance in nuclear cooperation and transfers of advanced military capabilities, stressing that proliferation risks affected international security as a whole.

India Reiterates Position on Kashmir
Bedi reaffirmed India’s position that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country and called for territories under what India describes as illegal occupation to be vacated.

Concluding his intervention, the diplomat said India remained committed to peace but maintained that lasting stability required accountability for actions that threaten it. His remarks placed counterterrorism, nuclear non-proliferation and state responsibility at the centre of India’s argument before the UN committee.