India strongly hit back at Pakistan’s attempts at the UN to paint a “propagandist” picture of New Delhi, saying Islamabad’s “Form 47 government” can “dare not” override instructions from the country’s real rulers, the Pakistani military.
Islamabad’s actions, he said, are aimed at diverting attention from its own domestic challenges, including economic distress, lawlessness and human rights violations. “What better way to deflect attention from a flailing economy, general lawlessness, and rampant human rights violations from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Balochistan,” Mr. Puri said. “But of course, the interest of the Fauj, the Pakistani army, who are the real rulers of the country, is supreme, and we fully understand the predicament of the Pakistani representative,” he said. “We would urge the Pakistani delegate to heed the counsel of her own countrymen, look inwards and focus on the well-being of her own citizens first,” he said.
Mr.
Puri then invoked the term “Form 47 government”, used by critics of Pakistan’s ruling dispensation in reference to allegations of manipulation in the country’s 2024 general elections. “But we do understand, unfortunately, that the Form 47 government dare not override instructions from the Pakistani military,” he said, adding that the interests of the armed forces, which he described as the country’s “real rulers”, took precedence. He said members of minority communities had made significant contributions to India’s economic, social and cultural development, including in the country’s highest constitutional offices, government institutions, the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, the film industry and corporate sector.
