India delivered another sharp response to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the United Nations after he raised issues such as Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty in his address. Responding on India’s behalf, Petal Gahlot questioned Pakistan’s approach to terrorism and warned that cross-border terrorism would carry consequences. Notably, it was not a senior Indian foreign ministry official who countered Sharif this time, but Gahlot, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, marking the second consecutive occasion on which she has responded to him at the world body.
Gahlot is an Indian Foreign Service officer currently serving as First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. Born in New Delhi, she joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2015 and has since served in the Ministry of External Affairs as well as at Indian diplomatic missions abroad. From 2020 to 2023, she served as Under Secretary in the ministry’s Europe West division, before taking up her current UN posting in July 2023. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Sociology, and French Literature from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and a master’s degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi.
At the UN General Assembly session, Sharif raised the Indus Waters Treaty, warning that any Indian attempt to stop or divert water due to Pakistan would be treated as an act of war. In response, Gahlot raised the issue of terrorism, recalling that 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden had lived near a key Pakistani military training facility. She also questioned Sharif’s praise for the Pakistani army, alleging that while Pakistan spoke of security by day, it promoted terrorism by night.
This is not the first such exchange between the two sides at the UN. In September 2025, Sharif had accused India of attacking Pakistan without provocation, referencing Operation Sindoor, and Gahlot had responded on India’s behalf on that occasion as well, criticising his speech for glorifying terrorism. She had referenced Pakistan’s conduct at the UN Security Council following the Pahalgam terror attack and Osama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan, while rejecting claims of third-country involvement in the India-Pakistan clash and reiterating India’s position that bilateral issues must be resolved directly between the two countries.