India slams Pak at UN over airstrikes against Afghanistan

India has launched a scathing attack on Pakistan at the United Nations (UN), condemning its “trade and transit terrorism” and military airstrikes against Afghanistan.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, delivered a sharp attack against Pakistan in the UN Security Council during its meeting on the ‘Situation in Afghanistan’ on Monday.

“Pakistan’s campaign of military airstrikes against Afghanistan is causing huge civilian casualties and suffering to the Afghan people...Such unconscionable acts of violence are a blatant assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a threat to the region’s peace and stability,” Parvathaneni said.

Strongly condemning the airstrikes on Afghan territory, India said these are flagrant violations of international law, the UN Charter and the principle of state sovereignty.

Parvathaneni cited United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) information to note that 372 civilians have been killed and 397 injured just in the first three months of this year; a large majority of them during the holy month of Ramadan, which is a time of peace, mercy and reflection, making the act all the more reprehensible.

“No faith, no law and no morality can justify such actions,” he said at the UN horseshoe table.

With Pakistan listening, India strongly reiterated that “dressing up a massacre as a military operation does not absolve the perpetrator. Killing, maiming and orphaning civilians is not counter terrorism.”

“Espousing high principles of international law and Islamic solidarity while mercilessly carrying out air strikes during the holy month of Ramadan is the perfect example of hypocrisy,” Parvathaneni said.

He added that “blaming neighbours for its own failures is an old Pakistani habit. This attempt to hoodwink the world will fail.”

India also strongly rejected Pakistan’s directives to start referring to groups inside its own borders as ‘Fitna al Hindustan’, calling it an outcome of an “organised factory of hate” against India.

Parvathaneni described such a move as “officially sponsored misinformation and disinformation dressed in religious terminology.”

‘Fitna al Hindustan’ is the term used by the state to refer to the Balochistan-based terror groups.

“This is an outcome of an organised factory of hate coming from the deep state of Pakistan, which aims to keep its citizens in a state of permanent hostility with India in order to perpetuate their stay in power and control of national resources and distract them from core political and economic problems,” the Indian envoy said.

“The de facto coup by the military through the 27th Constitutional amendment is only its most recent manifestation,” the Indian envoy said.

Parvathaneni was making a reference to the 27th Constitutional Amendment passed in November last year under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that gives Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir lifelong immunity from any legal prosecution.

Further, India also condemned the “trade and transit terrorism” inflicted upon Afghan traders by Pakistan, calling it a violation of World Trade Organisation norms.

India, the top destination of Afghan exports, is offering tariff-free access for Afghan goods to Indian markets and has operationalised a dedicated air freight corridor between India and Afghanistan.

Parvathaneni said India is also supporting Afghan traders by issuing hundreds of gratis long-term business visas, who are “suffering under unprecedented ‘trade and transit terrorism’ inflicted upon them by Pakistan’s denial of passage for trade.

“The cynical closure of access for this land-locked country is in total violation of UN declarations on Land Locked Developing countries (LLDCs) and a clear weaponisation of their trade and transit vulnerabilities. This blatant Pakistani violation of WTO norms and of the UN Charter and international law should be condemned by the global community,” he said.

In his statement, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that the most recent report of the Secretary General on the situation in Afghanistan seems to largely “externalise” the responsibility for Afghanistan’s multifaceted challenges.

“The fatalities of terrorists and their supporters as a result of CT (counter-terror) operations are mentioned within the ambit of ‘civilian casualties’, posing serious questions on the credibility of UNAMA’s reporting from Afghanistan and the nature of their engagement with the Taliban,” Ahmad said.

On Pakistan questioning the intent of UNAMA and the veracity of the Secretary General’s report, Parvathaneni said: “We would like to stress that support for multilateralism and the United Nations is not an à la carte menu.”

India also voiced its steadfast position in rejecting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

“Only coordinated efforts of the international community can ensure that ISIL and Al Qaida and their affiliates, including the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed and proxies of LeT such as The Resistance Front, along with those who facilitate their operations, no longer indulge in cross-border terrorism,” he said, calling on the international community to work together towards this “noble goal.”