Pakistan draws UNSC’s attention to India's role in Khuzdar attack

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s Counsellor to the United Nations, Saima Saleem, has said that India continues to support terror proxies that include the TTP, BLA and the Majeed Brigade to kill innocent civilians in Pakistan, highlighting India’s role in the Khuzdar attack.

Delegates of India and Pakistan engaged in a sharp verbal duel at the UN, after Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad denounced the Indian military for targeting civilian areas, including homes and mosques, during its recent aggression against Pakistan.

The exchange took place at the UN Security Council during its debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.

Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish reacted to his Pakistani counterpart’s tough statement, and while repeating New Delhi’s usual allegations, said Pakistan has no justification to talk about civilians when it is using terrorism as a policy.

Pakistani delegate Saima Saleem hit back, accusing the Indian envoy of relying on “disinformation, deflection and denial” as she said India is itself involved in acts of terrorism.

“No amount of obfuscation can hide the facts, India brazenly kills and maims civilians in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, carried out blatant aggression against Pakistan targeting civilians and sponsors terrorism and assassinations in my country and across the globe,” Ms. Saleem, a counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, told the 15-member Council.

India, she said, had even stooped to a new low of impeding the flow of rivers that serve as a lifeline for the 240 million people of Pakistan.

“If India had nothing to hide, it should have agreed to credible, impartial and independent investigations into the incident,” the Pakistani delegate said. “On the contrary” she added, “India continues to subject people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir to state-sponsored terrorism to suppress their legitimate freedom struggle.”

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Earlier this month, India also committed blatant aggression against Pakistan, launching unprovoked attacks on innocent civilians, killing 40 including 7 women and 15 children and injuring 121 others, including 10 women and 27 children.

“India certainly has no credibility to lecture others on the protection of civilians,” Ms. Saleem told delegates.

On the other hand, the Pakistani delegate said, India continues to actively fund and support terror proxies that include the Fitna Al Khawarij (TTP) (Teheek-i- Taliban Pakistan) , BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) and its Majeed Brigade to kill innocent civilians in Pakistan, drawing attention to the recent “savage” attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan, that took the lives of innocent school-going children and left dozens injured.

“If India is genuinely committed to peace and security and good neighbourliness, it should end its state-sponsored terrorism, cease its oppression of Kashmiris,” Ms. Saleem added.