India strongly rebuts Pakistan's politically motivated remarks at UNSC
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, speaking during a debate yesterday on the CAAC agenda, rejected unwarranted attempts by Pakistan to smear India and derail the UN processes.
His reply came in response to Pakistan's Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad who in a statement mentioned 'Kashmiri children' as having suffered in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rejecting Pakistan's insinuations, Ambassador Harish accusing Islamabad of attempting to deflect attention from its own human rights violations, particularly those involving children.
Harish pointed out that Pakistan is 'one of the grave violators of the CAAC agenda', referring to the UN Secretary-General's report that documented serious violations against children in Pakistan, including attacks on schools, especially girls' schools, health workers, and incidents of cross-border violence affecting Afghan children
He said Pakistan's "unwarranted aspersions" were an attempt to deflect attention from atrocities committed against children in that country and the rampant cross-border terrorism.
"I am constrained to respond to the politically motivated remarks made by the delegate of Pakistan, one of the grave violators of the CAAC (Children and Armed Conflict) agenda," Ambassador Harish said.
Harish said that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' report on CAAC provides details of serious violations against children in armed conflict in Pakistan.
'To preach at this body after such behaviour is grossly hypocritical," Harish said.
Referring to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 tourists were killed by Pakistan-trained terrorists, Ambassador Harish said: 'The world has not forgotten the savage targeted attacks by Pakistan and Pakistan-trained terrorists killing 26 tourists in India in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025.'
He noted that the Security Council had issued a Press Statement on April 25 that had underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act accountable and bring them to justice.
He said India had undertaken non-escalatory, proportionate and focused attacks that targeted nine terrorist infrastructure sites on May 7 in response.
He called out Pakistan's hypocrisy in preaching to the UN while giving state funerals to terrorists and shelling Indian border villages.
He also reaffirmed that Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.
In other remarks, the Indian Ambassador to the UN called for strengthening national and local systems to protect children and urged the international community to hold violators accountable.
Harish said that children remain particularly vulnerable to indoctrination on violent extremist ideologies and radical terrorist recruitment. Member States should work together on the child protection agenda and counter-terrorism.
"It is high time that Member States shed their political inhibitions to hold both terrorist perpetrators and their state sponsors accountable for exploiting the most innocent and vulnerable population," he said.
The UN Secretary General's report on Children and Armed Conflict noted that a total of 99 grave violations against 86 children (27 boys, 14 girls, 45 sex unknown) were reported in Pakistan. A total of 13 attacks on schools were reported and insecurity had a negative impact on health workers.
"I am concerned about the rise in reported grave violations, including attacks against schools, particularly girls' schools, and against health workers, and about incidents in the border areas with Afghanistan," the UN Secretary General had said in his report.
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