NEW DELHI: India on Thursday strongly rejected Pakistan’s remarks at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), accusing Islamabad of misusing the platform to push a “nefarious agenda” and deflect attention from its own child rights violations and cross-border terrorism.India’s permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, made a detailed statement during the UNSC’s open debate on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), responding to Pakistan’s comments.“Pakistan is casting unwarranted aspersions over UN processes and also smearing India at various discussions to pursue its nefarious agenda. We reject this attempt by Pakistan to deflect attention from the atrocities committed against children in their country, as highlighted in the Secretary-General’s report, as well as their rampant cross-border terrorism,” said Harish.He also referred to the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 tourists were killed, and highlighted India’s retaliatory strikes under Operation Sindoor.“The world has not forgotten the targeted attacks by Pakistani and Pakistani-trained terrorists killing 26 tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025. The security council had issued a press statement on 25 April which underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act accountable and bring them to justice. India had undertaken non escalatory, proportionate and focused attacks that targeted nine terrorist infrastructure sites on 7 May 2025 in response through Operation Sindoor. The terrorists killed in these attacks were given straight funerals by Pakistan and yet they tried to preach to others,” Permanent Representative of India to the UN said.Harish also referred to findings in the secretary-general’s report on Children and Armed Conflict.“The secretary general’s report on CAAC provides details of serious violations against children in armed conflict in Pakistan. Secretary General has expressed concern at the rise in such grave violations reported including attacks against schools, particularly girls’ schools, against health workers, and about the incidents in the border areas with Afghanistan where a series of killing and maiming of Afghan children was directly attributed to cross border shelling and air strikes by Pakistani armed forces! The Pakistani army also deliberately shelled our border villages in May 2025, killing and injuring a number of civilians. To preach at this body after such behaviour is grossly hypocritical,” he said.
