India Slams Pakistan's Ramadan Airstrikes on Afghanistan as Hypocritical

"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", India's Permanent Representative, P Harish told the Security Council on Monday.

The attacks "have killed 185 innocent civilians as of 6 March 2026, around 55 per cent of whom are women and children", he said.

"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", he said.

Speaking at a Council briefing on Afghanistan, Harish did not name Pakistan, but the diplomatically couched remarks were clear against whom they were directed.

Pakistan has claimed that it was attacking Afghanistan because it was allowing terrorists to operate from its territory.

Harish, however, pointed out that it was Islamabad that was using terrorist groups as proxies to attack neighbours.

"Terrorism remains a global scourge afflicting humanity, and only coordinated efforts of the international community would ensure that ISIL [Islamic State] and Al Qaida and their affiliates, including the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and 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.

In the most recent massacre across the border, the Resistance Front carried out the religiously motivated terrorist attack at Pahalgam in April, killing 26 people.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Georgette Gagnon, said, "The conflict with Pakistan has had punishing human and economic costs".

She said that Pakistan, having closed its border with Afghanistan, the only trade route was through Iran, which has been disrupted by the war, and the prices of basic commodities have begun to rise, "stressing Afghanistan's already fragile economy".

"Instability in the region, on both of Afghanistan's longest borders, undermines Afghanistan's stability", she said.

- IANS