Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has lauded the great efforts made by Pakistan for bringing global peace while brokering peace talks between US and Iran.
Addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, PM Shehbaz said, “The pursuit of peace is among the noblest of human endeavors.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab were arteries of the global economy that must remain open and condemned recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“The pursuit of peace is among the noblest of human endeavours,” the premier began his speech by saying, adding that Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s declaration of support for the UN Charter had shaped Pakistan’s national ethos and “guided our conduct at home and abroad”.
He addressed the conflict in the Gulf region and wider Middle East, highlighting the loss of lives, economic suffering and pressure faced by critical maritime routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz.
He expressed Pakistan’s complete solidarity with Saudi Arabia. He also highlighted the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed by Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia as a reflection of Pakistan’s commitment to peace.
“This alliance is not directed against any country; it is a collective commitment for defence, stability and peace in the region, and nothing more,” he stressed.
Speaking on the Indus Water Treaty, the prime minister said that water is the lifeblood not only of Pakistan but of the entire region, warning that any attempt to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of river waters would be treated as an act of war.
PM Shehbaz once again praised US President Donald Trump’s “resolute and visionary leadership” in brokering a ceasefire between the two countries in May 2025, stressing that “hundreds of millions of lives in South Asia were saved”.
“Who knows the extent of devastation that could have taken place had President Trump not stepped in at this critical moment with clarity of thought and action?” he said.
“We must therefore ensure that South Asia never reaches this precipice ever again.” This, however, the premier added, required a fair resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
He said India’s unilateral decision to hold the existing water treaty in abeyance had “no legal basis whatsoever”. He said India’s claims and actions had been rejected by experts and, more recently, by the Court of Arbitration.
The prime minister maintained that Pakistan’s position that the treaty remained “valid, binding and fully operative” had been vindicated. “Water must never be weaponised. Rivers should nourish nations, not divide them,” Shehbaz said.
He warned India against attempting to interfere with Pakistan’s share of the waters, saying Islamabad would regard any such move as an act of war.
“For eight decades, the Kashmiri people have waited for the United Nations to fulfill its solemn commitment of a free and impartial plebiscite,” he pointed out, adding that they had endured “illegal occupation, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence and collective punishment” for generations.
He declared that Pakistan would continue to extend its full diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris until they were granted their right to self-determination, terming Kashmir “Pakistan’s jugular vein”.