India, Pakistan may address UNGA on same day in tense showdown post Operation Sindoor

Months after Operation Sindoor, India and Pakistan may be headed for a showdown at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York with both countries expected to address global leaders on the same day.

The Pakistan premier is expected to follow the Indian speaker at the UNGA, Dawn has reported citing the provisional schedule.

It is unclear whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly to US to attend the UNGA this year. Sources earlier told The Indian Express that PM Modi's visit has not yet been finalised.

As per the schedule, leaders from both India and Pakistan are expected to address the 80th session of UNGA on September 26.

The Dawn report said that Pakistan may get a "strategic edge" if it follows India on the podium.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be leading the delegation, which will also include deputy PM Ishaq Dar.

The Dawn report said that the Indian leader will speak in the morning while the Pakistani PM's address will take place in the evening.

The report said that the symbolic face-off at UNGA will "underline the gulf in perspectives".

Pakistan has repeatedly tried to use the UNGA address to internationalise the Kashmir issue and criticise India's decision to abrogate Article 370.

PM Modi has made it clear at UNGA that J&K is an integral and inalienable part of India and that the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 was a legal and constitutional move to enhance integration.

India and Pakistan were engaged in an intense four-day military conflict in May following Operation Sindoor. Following the ceasefire, India launched a series of diplomatic outreach missions to expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Islamabad followed suit with its own copycat missions.

In July, US had designated The Resistance Front (TRF), the group behind the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists on April 22, as a terrorist organisation.

India had welcomed the move, calling it "a strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism operation".

TRF is an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. It had claimed responsibility for the attack. Union home minister Amit Shah had earlier informed Parliament that the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam were gunned down in J&K during Operation Mahadev and forces recovered from them Pakistani rifles and other material from across the border.