India slams Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghanistan

India has condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghanistan as a “flagrant violation” of international law, saying it is “hypocritical” to invoke Islamic solidarity while carrying out attacks that have killed civilians during Ramzan.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni reiterated New Delhi’s support for the UN Secretary-General’s call for compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law, and for ensuring the protection of civilians.

“India strongly condemns the airstrikes on Afghan territory which are flagrant violations of international law and the UN Charter and the principle of state sovereignty. “It is hypocritical to espouse high principles of international law and Islamic solidarity on the one hand, while mercilessly carrying out air strikes during the holy month of Ramadan that have killed 185 innocent civilians as of March 6,” he said. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), around 55 per cent of the 185 victims were women and children, and more than 100,000 people have been displaced due to the attacks.

Parvathaneni expressed “grave concern on the practice of trade and transit terrorism by denial of passage for trade and cynical closure of access” to Afghanistan, a landlocked country.

Describing it as a violation of WTO norms as well as international law, he said the trade and transit vulnerabilities of Land Locked Developing countries (LLDCs) should not be weaponised.

“While we condemn these acts, we reaffirm our support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Afghanistan,” the envoy said.

He said terrorism continues to remain a global scourge afflicting humanity and stressed the need for coordinated international efforts to ensure that groups such as ISIL and Al-Qaeda and their affiliates, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and their proxies, do not carry out cross-border terrorism. The diplomat said the political situation in Afghanistan has changed over the last four years and urged the UN sanctions system to be reviewed.

The policies should be more flexible and practical, and the goal should be to help the Afghan people rather than isolate them, he said.