Months after the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment in Pakistan and Field Marshal Asim Munir’s military powers being bolstered with the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) tag, India targeted the neighbouring country on the global stage, advising it to introspect.
Parvathaneni Harish, Representative of India at the United Nations, shredded Pakistan on its rule of law and urged the border nation to introspect on the role of its armed forces in constitutional developments.
Without directly naming Asim Munir, the Indian envoy said: “Pakistan is well advised to introspect about the rule of law. It could start by asking itself how it has let its armed forces engineer a constitutional coup through the 27th amendment and giving life-time immunity to its Chief of Defence Forces.”
Parvathaneni Harish made the remarks while responding to Pakistan during the UN Security Council Open Debate on Monday.
Field Marshal Asim Munir was appointed Pakistan’s first Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) for a five-year term last year. His name was recommended for the post by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The move followed passage of the 27th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan in November, a development that formalised military supremacy in the country and centralised command of all armed forces (army, navy, and air force) under one person.
Not only was Munir handed the additional charge of the navy and the air force, but was also given a lifetime immunity from arrest and prosecution, a step the triggered concerns across the globe.
UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk had also flagged concerns over the 27th amendment, saying it was rushed through “without broad consultation and debate with the legal community and wider civil society.”
India’s rebuke of the boost of powers to Asim Munir in Pakistan came as it slammed the country for its “false and self-serving account” of Operation Sindoor.
Responding to Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad’s references to the military operation during a UN security council debate, India’s Parvathaneni Harish said: “I now respond to the comments of the representative of Pakistan, an elected member of the Security Council, which has a single-point agenda to harm my country and my people. He has advanced a false and self-serving account of Operation Sindoor in May last year.”
India has always maintained that Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, 2025, targeted terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, and was in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, that left 26 civilians dead. “This august body itself called for holding the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and brought to justice. That is exactly what we did,” Parvathaneni said.
The Indian envoy underlined that India’s response was “measured, non-escalatory and responsible”, and clarified that Islamabad had pleaded with New Delhi for the cessation of hostilities.