India sharply criticised Pakistan at the United Nations Security Council, alleging that Islamabad’s cross-border violence in Afghanistan has led to large-scale civilian casualties.
Speaking during a discussion on protecting civilians in armed conflict, India’s Permanent Representative Harish Parvathaneni said Pakistan has a “long, tainted history” linked to genocide incidents and accused it of selectively raising India’s internal issues.
Citing UN assessment documents, he said that in the first three months of 2026, Pakistan’s military actions across the border resulted in 750 civilian deaths in Afghanistan, with most fatalities attributed to aerial strikes.
He further referred to UN records stating that of 95 incidents that caused civilian deaths in Afghanistan, 94 were attributed to Pakistan. He also recalled a March airstrike during Ramadan on a hospital that, he said, could not be justified as a military target, killing 269 people and injuring 122.
Calling such attacks “cowardly” and “conscience-less,” the envoy said targeting civilians while claiming respect for international law was hypocritical, and alleged that Pakistan had also struck people returning from a mosque after prayers.
