India slams Pakistan at UN for deflecting from child rights violations

Business Standard

26-06-2025

India strongly rejected Pakistan's unwarranted aspersions over UN processes and attempts to deflect attention from atrocities committed against children in the country and rampant cross-border terrorism, asserting that the world has not forgotten the Pahalgam attacks.
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, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador P Harish said.
In a statement at the UN Security Council open debate on Effective strategies to end and prevent grave violations against children' Wednesday, Harish said that Pakistan is casting unwarranted aspersions over UN processes and also smearing India at various discussions to pursue their 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, 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.
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! To preach at this body after such behaviour is grossly hypocritical, Harish said.
He told the Council that the world has not forgotten the savage targeted attacks by Pakistani and Pakistani-trained terrorists killing 26 tourists in India in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.
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.
India had undertaken non-escalatory, proportionate and focused attacks that targeted nine terrorist infrastructure sites on May 7 in response through Operation Sindoor, he said, while pointing out that terrorists killed in these attacks were given state funerals by Pakistan.
The Pakistani army also deliberately shelled Indian border villages in May 2025, killing and injuring a number of civilians, he said.
And yet, they try to preach to others, the Indian envoy said.
Harish underscored that the entire Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India irrespective of the frequent and incessant spate of lies and falsehoods by Pakistan.
The 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 Secretary General said in his report.
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.
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