Viral video of diplomat Saima Saleem calling out India’s terrorism is old from September 2021

On May 25, 2025, social media users circulated a video of Pakistani diplomat Saima Saleem allegedly calling out India’s terrorism during the United Nations General Assembly debate following the aggression against Pakistan earlier this month. However, the video is old, from September 2021 and unrelated to the recent conflict.

Claim

Pakistani diplomat Saima Saleem calls out India’s terrorism at UN General debate

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is misleading.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search to find the original video.

Multiple users across social media platforms, starting May 25, 2025, circulated a video of Pakistani diplomat Saima Saleem allegedly calling out India’s terrorism during the United Nations General Assembly debate following the aggression against Pakistan earlier this month. However, the video is old, from September 2021, in response to India’s occupation in Kashmir.

India and Pakistan were involved in a brief military exchange earlier this month after India launched unprovoked drone strikes on multiple cities in Pakistan, alleging Pakistani involvement in an attack in Pahalgam, located in Indian-administered Kashmir. In response, the Pakistan Armed Forces initiated a retaliatory operation, Bunyan un Marsoos, on May 10, reportedly shooting down several jets and targeting military installations across the border.

HOW IT STARTED

On May 25, 2025, an account on X who appeared to be a pro-army account according to his past posts, shared a video of Pakistani diplomat Saima Saleem calling India for its role in terrorism.

The transcript of the video is reproduced below:

“Mr. President, let me emphasise that India itself is the principal perpetrator, sponsor, financer, and abettor of terrorism in the region. Today, India is involved in at least four different types of terrorism.

First, India is resorting to state terrorism to suppress the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Second, it is funding and supporting terrorist organisations like the TTP, which are involved in numerous cross-border terrorist attacks against Pakistani military and civilian targets.

Third, India is financing and organising mercenary terrorist organisations against Pakistan.

Fourth, India is being guided by a supremacist ideology that has mainstreamed Islamophobia and bigotry against minorities, particularly Muslims, in its political discourse.”

While the caption of the post read: “Saima Saleem, the pride of Pakistan, not only forced an Indian diplomat to flee the UN but also exposed India’s cunning terrorist face to the whole world.”

The post has been viewed by 195,000 people.

The same video with similar claim was shared here, here, here, and here.

Users on Facebook also circulated the same clip here, here, here, and here, collectively gaining over 22,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in India-Pakistan relations following the recent military tensions.

To investigate the circulated video, a keyword search was conducted. A keyword search for “Saima Saleem”, “India” and “UN speech” led to a three-year-old video of the Pakistani diplomat posted on the YouTube channel of the Foreign Office Pakistan.

Originally published on 25 September 2021, the eight-minute-long video was titled: “Ms Saima Saleem presenting Pakistan’s Right of Reply at the 76th Session of the UNGA.”

According to Dawn.com news report from September 25, 2021, Saleem’s address was in response to India’s First Secretary Sneha Dubey, who claimed that occupied Kashmir and Ladakh “were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India”.

The Pakistani representative contested the claim, calling out the country’s illegal occupation and human rights violations in the region.

Saleem is the first visually impaired civil servant of Pakistan. She is a representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York.

Saleem also exercised Pakistan’s Right of Reply during the open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict at the United Nations General Assembly on 23 May 2025.

During the address, she called out India’s aggression against Pakistan between 6–10 May that killed 40 civilians, including seven women and 15 children, and injured 121 civilians, including 10 women and 27 children.