UN report links Pahalgam terror attack to Myanmar refugees: Why it has irked New Delhi | Explained

(FILES) Security personnel inspect the site in the aftermath of an attack as food stall chairs lie empty in Pahalgam, about 90km (55 miles) from Srinagar on April 23, 2025. (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP)

A new report by a United Nations official has sparked a diplomatic row between India and the global body after it made an unexpected link between the Pahalgam terror attack and the treatment of Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees in India. The Indian government has dismissed the claims as “biased and baseless,” accusing the UN of ignoring facts and relying on “unverified” reports.

What the UN report said

The controversy began with the latest assessment by UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Thomas H Andrews, who claimed that Rohingya refugees in India have faced “severe pressure” since the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

In his report, Andrews wrote: “Following the April 2025 terrorist attack on Hindu tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, refugees from Myanmar have been under severe pressure in India even though no individuals from Myanmar were involved in the attack.”

He alleged that “in recent months, several Myanmar refugees in India have been summoned, detained, interrogated and threatened with deportation by Indian authorities.”

The report also cited UNHCR data, noting that over 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar are spread across Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and Indonesia. Thousands of Rohingya refugees live in India, mostly in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and parts of the Northeast, having fled the military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017.

While India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, it has allowed these refugees to stay on humanitarian grounds, though their legal status remains uncertain.

India’s strong rebuttal

India reacted sharply to the report, calling the allegations unfounded and politically motivated. During a session of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, Lok Sabha MP Dilip Saikia delivered a firm rebuttal, rejecting Andrews’ claims outright.

Saikia said: “The remarks have no factual basis whatsoever. They are biased and prejudiced against India.”

He accused the Special Rapporteur of carrying out a “blinkered analysis” and relying on “unverified and skewed media reports whose sole purpose appears to be maligning India.”

Saikia also dismissed the suggestion that the Pahalgam terror attack had any link to the Rohingya refugees, asserting that it had “no factual bearing whatsoever.”

India’s broader context and concerns

In defending India’s position, Saikia reminded the UN committee that the country is home to over 200 million Muslims, nearly 10 percent of the global Muslim population, who live in harmony with other faiths. His remarks appeared aimed at countering any insinuation that India was targeting Muslims or Rohingyas.

He also drew attention to the worsening security situation in Myanmar, warning that it has cross-border implications for neighboring countries.

Saikia said India had observed “an alarming level of radicalisation among some displaced persons,” which has, at times, impacted local law and order in certain border regions. This statement reflected India’s longstanding security concerns regarding illegal migration, infiltration, and potential extremist activity linked to unverified refugee movements.

India’s call for peace and stability in Myanmar

Even as it rejected the UN’s criticism, India reiterated its commitment to peace and democracy in Myanmar. Saikia emphasized that India supports a “Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led path toward peace, stability, and democracy,” in coordination with ASEAN and the UN Secretary-General’s office.

He called for an “immediate cessation of violence, release of political prisoners, unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance, and inclusive political dialogue.”

Humanitarian assistance and India’s record

Highlighting India’s continued support for Myanmar’s people, Saikia reminded the UN that following the March 2025 earthquake in Myanmar, New Delhi had launched Operation Brahma, sending over 1,000 metric tonnes of relief materials and medical teams.

He noted that this was in line with previous initiatives such as Operation Sahayata, carried out during Typhoon Hiyaki, and Operation Sadbhav, which is part of India’s ongoing humanitarian engagement with Myanmar.

These references were meant to underline that India has consistently provided humanitarian aid to Myanmar, even as it continues to deal with the complex spillover effects of the ongoing crisis across their shared border.

Why the UN report has irked India

For New Delhi, the UN report crosses a line by linking the Pahalgam terror attack to the treatment of Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees. India views this as a distortion that undermines its sovereignty and misrepresents its actions toward refugees.

Officials believe that such assessments ignore India’s record of humanitarian support while echoing unverified narratives that could embolden extremist elements and distort global perceptions.

The Indian delegation’s strong response at the UN reflects the government’s intent to push back against what it sees as unfair scrutiny and to assert that India’s refugee management and counterterrorism measures are guided by national security and humanitarian principles, not by prejudice.

A diplomatic flashpoint

The exchange has turned into a fresh flashpoint between India and the UN. For India, the remarks by the UN Special Rapporteur are not just inaccurate but also insensitive, as they appear to conflate victims of terrorism with those seeking refuge from conflict.

By rejecting the UN report as “biased and baseless,” India has made it clear that it will not tolerate what it considers external attempts to question its internal security policies or its handling of refugees on humanitarian grounds.

In essence, New Delhi sees the UN’s claims as an unfair attempt to draw a false connection between its fight against terrorism and its treatment of displaced persons -- an equation India finds both factually wrong and diplomatically unacceptable.