‘Kashmiri Pandits driven out by Pakistan-backed terrorists’: India at UN
At a session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, an Indian diplomat responded to Pakistan's remarks on Jammu and Kashmir and on minority rights in India.
India stated that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and called on Pakistan to vacate the territory under its occupation.
The Indian statement recalled the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, attributing it to terrorists that were armed, trained and sent across the border, and noted that the same terror networks have since killed people of multiple faiths, including Muslims, in the region.
India also rejected Pakistan's assertions regarding the Indus Waters Treaty, reiterating that cross-border terrorism and water-sharing cooperation cannot be treated as separate issues.
UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) — mandate and mechanism
The UNHRC is an inter-governmental body within the UN system, established in 2006 by a UN General Assembly resolution, replacing the earlier UN Commission on Human Rights. It is composed of 47 member states elected by the UNGA for staggered three-year terms and is mandated to address human rights violations and make recommendations, including through mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of every UN member state's human rights record.
Key Details
- Established: 2006, headquartered in Geneva, subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly.
- 47 member seats, distributed regionally, elected for three-year terms (India has served multiple terms).
- The September 2026 session under discussion is the Council's 63rd regular session, running 7 September to 7 October 2026.
The Council's general debate segments allow states to make statements — such as Pakistan's remarks on Kashmir and India's rebuttal — though the UNHRC has no binding enforcement power over bilateral territorial disputes.
The 1990 Kashmiri Pandit exodus
Following a sharp rise in terrorist violence and targeted killings in the Kashmir Valley from late 1989, several hundred thousand Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus native to the Valley) fled their homes in early 1990, mostly to Jammu and Delhi. The displacement is officially treated in India as a case of internal migration caused by terrorism, and successive governments have run relief and rehabilitation packages for the displaced community.
Key Details
- Exodus concentrated in January–March 1990, following a sustained campaign of targeted killings and threats.
- Union government relief/rehabilitation schemes for Kashmiri migrants have included cash assistance, housing, and job quotas in government service.
- The community's displacement is frequently cited at international forums as evidence of terrorism's impact on religious minorities in J&K.
India's UNHRC statement used the Pandit exodus as direct evidence that terrorism — not any domestic policy — is the source of displacement and human rights harm in Kashmir, turning back the framing in Pakistan's own remarks on minorities.
Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 and its 2025 "abeyance"
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 with the World Bank as a broker, allocates the three "eastern" rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the three "western" rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) predominantly to Pakistan, with India retaining limited non-consumptive and specified irrigation/hydropower uses on the western rivers. Following the Pahalgam terror attack of 22 April 2025, India announced it was holding the Treaty "in abeyance" with immediate effect, stating it would remain suspended until Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably" ends its support for cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has called India's move a violation of international legal obligations, since the Treaty contains no unilateral suspension clause.
Key Details
- Treaty signed: 19 September 1960, brokered by the World Bank.
- Rivers allocation: Eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India; Western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) mainly to Pakistan.
- Treaty put in abeyance by India from 23 April 2025, following the 22 April 2025 Pahalgam attack.
India's UNHRC rebuttal linked the water-treaty dispute to the same underlying terrorism grievance, arguing that Pakistan cannot press treaty obligations while continuing to back cross-border terror networks.
- UNHRC 63rd regular session: 7 September – 7 October 2026, Geneva.
- Kashmiri Pandit exodus: concentrated in early 1990.
- Indus Waters Treaty: signed 1960; put in abeyance by India from 23 April 2025 after the 22 April 2025 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people.
- UNHRC has 47 elected member states; established in 2006 as successor to the UN Commission on Human Rights.