Peace, security and progress in the Indian subcontinent would be possible only when cross-border terrorism is put to an end and minorities are not persecuted, India said at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, in response to an address by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

On Friday, Sharif had called for lasting peace with all its neighbours, adding however, that it depended on finding a solution to the Kashmir dispute, PTI reported. He also described the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, as an “illegal and unilateral” action.

“I think it’s high time that India understood this message loud and clear that both countries are armed to the teeth,” the Pakistani prime minister had said. “War is not an option...Only peaceful dialogue can resolve these issues so that the world becomes more peaceful in time to come.”

India, which held the right to reply to Sharif’s comments, said that Pakistan should stop cross-border terrorism instead of making claims on Kashmir.

“A polity that claims it seeks peace with its neighbours would never sponsor cross-border terrorism,” Indian diplomat Mijito Vinito said. “Nor would it shelter planners of the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, disclosing their existence only under pressure from the international community.”

The diplomat also alleged that citizens of minority communities are “abducted as an SOP [standard operating procedure]” in Pakistan. Vinito added that the Pakistani prime minister had made accusations against India to “obfuscate misdeeds in his own country”.