External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday, 26 September issued a pointed warning at the United Nations General Assembly, asserting that India would exercise its sovereign right to defend itself against terrorism and accusing an unnamed country of misrepresenting facts before the world body a day earlier.

'Yesterday, a serial practitioner of terrorism misrepresented facts before this assembly,' Jaishankar told the General Debate. 'Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised.'

The Veiled Warning and Its Target

Jaishankar declined to name the country in his remarks, but the reference was widely interpreted in diplomatic circles as directed at Pakistan, given the longstanding Indian position on cross-border terrorism. He accused unnamed actors of making arguments designed to 'normalise terrorism and claim immunity from its consequences,' adding bluntly: 'That will not stand.'

He categorised state-sponsored terrorism with a cross-border dimension as a direct challenge to the global order, calling for governments engaged in such practices to be held accountable and for the financing of terrorism to be exposed and countered. 'Friendship and goodwill cannot coexist with terrorism,' he said, pressing the unnamed perpetrator to change course. He reiterated India's commitment to zero tolerance towards terrorism.

The 4F Crisis and Pressures on the Global South

The anti-terror warning was embedded in a wider address covering peace, development and the structural vulnerabilities of poorer nations. Jaishankar described a '4F crisis' confronting the Global South — encompassing the security of food, fuel, fertiliser and finance. A super El Nino, fertiliser shortages, and disruptions to grain trade were highlighted as causes for alarm.

He also cautioned that the world was witnessing 'a weaponisation of everything' — from financial access and market entry to supply chains and technology. Countries were responding by de-risking and diversifying partnerships, he noted, but the broader global atmosphere was haemorrhaging trust.

India's Development Footprint and Maritime Concerns

Jaishankar pointed to 600 major Indian development projects across 78 countries, spanning infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, information technology, and capacity building, with African nations and small island developing states identified as preferred partners. He also cited India's emergency response to the Nepal flash floods and the Venezuela earthquake as examples of its first-responder role.

On maritime security, the minister described attacks on commercial vessels and seafarers — stretching from the Gulf to the Red Sea and the Black Sea — as unacceptable, noting that Indian seafarers had lost their lives. India had joined Liberia and 23 other partners in a coalition to resist such attacks, he said.

Calls for AI Equity and UN Reform

Jaishankar urged that every country should retain the ability to develop its own artificial intelligence models and deployment frameworks in line with national priorities. India, he said, would make AI a core plank of its partnership agenda with the Global South.

He also renewed India's push for reform of international institutions, arguing that a more multipolar world demanded more representative governance. 'Large sections of humanity cannot be excluded from that process,' he said. India has long sought a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, whose composition still reflects the post-World War II settlement. Jaishankar closed the address by invoking Mahatma Gandhi's words: 'There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.'