New Delhi, June 26 (UNI) India today slammed Pakistan for smearing it at various discussions to pursue a nefarious agenda and rejected Islamabad's attempt to deflect attention from the atrocities committed against children in its own land.

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador P Harish, in a UN Security Council Debate 'Effective strategies to end and prevent grave violations against children', said Pakistan is casting unwarranted aspersions over UN processes and also smearing India at various discussions to pursue their nefarious agenda.

‘’We reject this attempt by Pakistan to deflect attention from the atrocities committed against children in their country, as highlighted in the Secretary General’s report, as well as their rampant cross border terrorism,’’ he said.

Harish said he was constrained to respond to the politically motivated remarks made by the delegate of Pakistan, ‘’one of the grave violators of the CAAC agenda.’’

Guyana had organised the open debate on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC).

He said the world had not forgotten the savage targeted attacks by Pakistan and Pakistan-trained terrorists killing 26 tourists in Pahalgam on April 22.

The Security Council had issued a press statement on April 25 which underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act accountable and bring them to justice.

He said India had undertaken non-escalatory, proportionate and focused attacks that targeted nine terrorist infrastructure sites on the May 7 in response through Operation Sindoor.

‘’The terrorists killed in these attacks were given state funerals by Pakistan. And yet, they try to preach others,’’ Ambassador Harish said.

Pointing out that the Secretary General’s report on CAAC provides details of serious violations against children in armed conflict in Pakistan, he said the Secretary General had expressed concern at the rise in such grave violations reported including attacks against schools, particularly girls’ schools, against health workers, and about the incidents in the border areas with Afghanistan where a series of killing and maiming of Afghan children was directly attributed to cross border shelling and air strikes by Pakistani armed forces.

The Pakistan army also deliberately shelled India’s border villages in May, killing and injuring a number of civilians.

‘’To preach at this body after such behaviour is grossly hypocritical.’’

Ambassador Harish reaffirmed India’s stand that the ‘’entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India irrespective of the frequent and incessant spate of lies and falsehoods by Pakistan.’’

He said the world is witnessing an alarming escalation in conflicts and terrorist attacks and children are their most unfortunate casualties.

As per UNSG’s report, grave violations against children have surged 25 percent, while sexual violence has risen 35 percent in 2024 —a sobering indictment that demands immediate and decisive action.

Creating an enabling environment for holistic development of children is fundamental for child protection. Their safety, nutrition and education should be prioritised at national and household levels. Children in conflict and post-conflict situations, however, require specialised attention and psycho-social support for their successful reintegration into society. Thus, sustained efforts by the state are required to build these essential ecosystems.

He said India leads by example and has taken several steps to protect children and aid their growth and development.

India established the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in 2007 to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative systems conform to the vision of the rights of the child as enunciated in the Constitution of India as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Mission Vatsalya Scheme is a flagship child welfare and protection initiative aimed at ensuring the safety, protection and holistic development of children, especially those in vulnerable situations.

"India also undertakes periodic and comprehensive awareness campaigns including among security personnel on child protection and child rights. Another concrete step is incorporating child protection provisions into the standard operating procedures of security personnel.

‘’Our experience in peacekeeping operations underlines the need to allocate sufficient resources and requisite number of child protection advisers in peacekeeping missions for effective child protection programmes.’’

National governments hold primary responsibility for protecting children's rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

With over 7,000 children newly recruited by armed groups in 2024, Member States must establish comprehensive legal frameworks to ensure effective prosecution of child-related crimes.

Pointing out that children remain particularly vulnerable to indoctrination on violent extremist ideologies and radical terrorist recruitment, he said Member States should work together on the child protection agenda and counter-terrorism.

'It is high time that Member States shed their political inhibitions to hold both terrorist perpetrators and their state sponsors accountable for exploiting the most innocent and vulnerable population,' Harish said. UNI RB SSP