Pakistan 'fabricates imaginative tales of Islamophobia': India slams Pak at United Nations

India used the global stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday to launch a sharp counter against Pakistan, accusing it of spinning "imaginative tales of Islamophobia" while ignoring its own record on religious freedoms.

Speaking at the observance of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, India’s Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish said Islamabad had repeatedly tried to weaponise religious narratives against India on international platforms, particularly through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

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The Indian envoy argued that the debate on Islamophobia should not be narrowed to serve political agendas. Instead, the United Nations must address the broader challenge of religiophobia — hatred and discrimination against people of all faiths.

Harish warned against the growing tendency to weaponise religious identity for narrow political ends, saying such practices risk undermining the very principles on which the United Nations was founded. The global body, he noted, was conceived as an institution meant to transcend divisions of religion, culture and politics.

Pointing to Pakistan’s own record, the Indian diplomat drew attention to issues such as the repression of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the large-scale expulsion of Afghanistan nationals and military actions during the holy month of Ramadan — developments he suggested deserved equal scrutiny in conversations about religious intolerance.

Harish also underscored India’s own religious diversity, describing the country as home to more than 200 million Muslims, one of the largest Muslim populations anywhere in the world. The diplomat noted that the country is the birthplace of major religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, and said its long civilisational experience had made it acutely aware of the importance of safeguarding religious harmony.

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In that context, he argued that Pakistan’s only real "phobia" was directed at the multicultural and pluralistic ethos that characterises Indian society.

Concluding his intervention, Harish reiterated India’s call for a world free from religious hatred and violence in all its forms, urging the United Nations to focus its limited resources on fostering inclusive societies built on equality, dignity and the rule of law for people of every faith.