Who is Petal Gahlot? Indian diplomat hits back at Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif at UN - The Indian Express
Petal Gahlot, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, has delivered India’s Right of Reply to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the UN General Assembly for the second consecutive year.
Her latest response followed Sharif’s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty. Sharif warned that any attempt by India to stop, impede or divert Pakistan’s share of the Indus waters would be treated as an “act of war”.
Gahlot rejected Pakistan’s references to Jammu and Kashmir, criticised what she described as the Pakistani military’s dominance of the country’s political system and warned that continued cross-border terrorism would have consequences.
Gahlot is a career Indian Foreign Service officer and currently serves as First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. The mission’s April 2026 staff list identifies her as a First Secretary.
She joined the mission in July 2023. Before that, she served as an Under Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs’ Europe West Division from June 2020 to July 2023.
Gahlot also served as an adviser in the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly during September 2024-September 2025. The UN’s PGA79 handover report lists her as an SD/Adviser from India.
She studied Political Science, Sociology and French Literature at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, where she was part of the college’s Indian Music Group, Malhar. She later completed a master’s in Political Science at Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi and a master’s in Language Interpretation and Translation at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
Gahlot exercised India’s Right of Reply after Sharif’s UNGA address.
Responding to Sharif’s references to Jammu and Kashmir, she said, “This is an integral and inalienable part of my country and will always remain so.” She then turned to Pakistan’s political system, describing it as “a regime of the army, by the army, and for the army”.
“Their puppets may come and go, but let us have no illusion about who calls the shots,” she said.
Gahlot also referred to what she described as a security cordon around Pakistan’s capital and criticised Sharif’s remarks on democracy and human rights.
#WATCH | New York | First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, Petal Gahlot says, "References were made to the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This is an integral and inalienable part of my country and will always remain so. But if we must talk about… pic.twitter.com/sHVeKYPrVc
Gahlot referred to Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment while questioning the military’s role in the country’s political system.
The amendment, approved in November 2025, expanded the powers of army chief Asim Munir, who was elevated to the post of Chief of Defence Forces. Under the changes, he retains his rank after completing his term and receives legal immunity for life.
Gahlot cited the provision as part of her argument about the military’s continuing influence over Pakistan’s political system.
She also invoked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, pointing to the fact that Osama bin Laden was found living in Abbottabad, near Pakistan’s premier military academy.
Gahlot rejected Sharif’s references to Jammu and Kashmir and reiterated India’s position that the territory is an integral and inalienable part of the country. She then turned attention to Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
“If we must talk about Kashmir, let us turn our attention to the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Ask the people of Rawalkot about the wanton killings, the brutal violence and the denial of basic rights that they have long experienced,” she said.
The remarks were Gahlot’s characterisation of the situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
#WATCH | New York | First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, Petal Gahlot says, "At the heart of the issue is the long-standing practice of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan. We demonstrated last year that terrorists will have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.… pic.twitter.com/AW75mY3ulj
Gahlot described cross-border terrorism as central to India’s dispute with Pakistan.
“At the heart of the issue is the long-standing practice of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan,” she said.
“We demonstrated last year that terrorists will have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised and continued. Terrorism by Pakistan will have consequences,” she added.
She invoked Operation Sindoor, India’s May 2025 military operation following the Pahalgam terror attack, which New Delhi said targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Gahlot also criticised Sharif’s remarks on religious tolerance, pointing to what she described as Pakistan’s treatment of minorities and its blasphemy laws.
She concluded by accusing Pakistan of repeatedly making what she described as false claims at the UN.
“Reiterating falsehoods year after year does not make them true,” she said.
Gahlot had delivered India’s Right of Reply after Sharif’s UNGA address in September 2025 as well.
Sharif had described Operation Sindoor as “unprovoked aggression” by India and credited then-US President Donald Trump with helping prevent a wider conflict. India rejected that account.
Gahlot called Sharif’s speech “absurd theatrics” and accused him of “glorifying terrorism”.
“No degree of drama and no level of lies can conceal the facts,” she told the General Assembly.
She also accused Pakistan of shielding The Resistance Front from responsibility for the Pahalgam attack and referred to Pakistan’s history involving Osama bin Laden. Those were assertions made by Gahlot as part of India’s Right of Reply.
Gahlot also said Pakistan’s armed forces had “pleaded” for a cessation of fighting after Indian strikes hit Pakistani airbases during Operation Sindoor.
She rejected third-party mediation and reiterated India’s position that outstanding issues between India and Pakistan should be addressed bilaterally.
And in a direct message to Sharif, she said that if Pakistan was genuinely seeking peace, it should “immediately shut down all terrorist camps and hand over to us the terrorists wanted in India.”
Gahlot’s latest intervention therefore marks the second consecutive year in which she has delivered India’s direct response to Sharif’s UN General Assembly address.
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