"When Will You Prosecute Hafiz Saeed?" Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Ignores Questions From Indian Media During United Nations General Assembly

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ON THURSDAY, September 24, 2026, the 81st United Nations General Assembly meeting was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. During the meeting, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif became a major highlight as he was seen ignoring questions from the Indian media. The questions were related to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and terrorism.

The question was asked by an ANI journalist, who confronted Sharif with a direct question asking when the country would stop harbouring terrorists. When Sharif entered the headquarters for the meeting, the journalist asked, “Prime Minister, when will you stop harbouring terrorists?” Sharif did not respond. In another incident, when Sharif was leaving the headquarters, the journalist asked again, “When will you prosecute Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed?” The PM again refused to answer the question.

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Who Is Hafiz Saeed?  

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is a Pakistani militant and a resident of Sargodha in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Saeed is the founder of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India has designated as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The organisation has been linked to several terrorist attacks in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the Pahalgam attack and a number of other attacks across the country.

As per reports by ANI, a day before the incident, India strongly criticized Pakistan at the United Nations for diverting attention from its domestic problems. India said Islamabad needs to focus on its domestic problems and debt-ridden economy rather than harbouring terrorists and sponsoring terrorism. Indian diplomat Kshitij Tyagi exercised his right to reply at the UN Human Rights Council and criticized Pakistan’s approach, arguing that the country’s hostile posture would not help address its economic or domestic challenges.

Kshitij further argued that Pakistan’s priorities were misplaced, saying, “Pakistan would better serve its people by focusing on development, rather than by coveting territory of others or exporting terror, because neither these nor its theatrics in the Council would help repay the loans its economy survives on."

“This Council was told last Friday of scores of civilians killed since June in the territory Pakistan occupies, of students arrested in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and of food and medicine held back. When those accounts were given, Pakistan's answer was a point of order. If any delegation in this room meets every objective criterion for this Council's scrutiny, it is Pakistan,” he further noted.

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UN General Assembly Meeting 2026

The UNGA meeting commenced on September 8, 2026, and will end on September 28, 2026. The general debates were scheduled to take place from September 22, 2026, to September 26, 2026. The central theme of the meeting was rebuilding confidence in global cooperation as international law faces severe strain.

The 81st meeting will also be the last high-level opening session for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as his term concludes at the end of the year.

This meeting is especially important as world leaders are gathering at a time when the world is facing geopolitical pressure, overlapping global conflicts with no clear conclusion, and a crisis of trust in multilateral institutions. Throughout the meeting, several issues were discussed, including conflicting views on the UN’s ability to deliver peace, the Ukraine war, other conflicts affecting different countries, rising food and energy prices, and UN Security Council reforms. World leaders expressed different views on these topics.

One of the major incidents during the UNGA was when dozens of United Nations delegates walked out of the hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to deliver his speech. Addressing the assembly, Netanyahu said those who were walking out were “moral cowards” and that anyone who felt the same way could also leave.

While the UN meeting is ongoing, US President Donald Trump is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington for a state summit, the first such meeting between the two leaders in more than a decade.

(Edited by Agniva Ray)

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