Pakistan on Monday strongly rejected Indian and Afghan allegations that its recent military strikes in Afghanistan caused civilian casualties, saying the operations targeted only terrorist and military support infrastructure used by the Taliban regime for cross-border attacks.

Exercising his right of reply at a UN Security Council discussion on Afghanistan, Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the strikes, including those conducted in March, hit drone storage facilities, technical support infrastructure, and ammunition depots.

“Those strikes were precise, deliberate, and professional,” he said, adding that no hospital, drug rehabilitation centre, or civilian facility was targeted.

India’s statement was delivered by Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, while Naseer Ahmad Faiq — an appointee of the former Afghan government, as the UN has not recognised the Taliban — spoke for Afghanistan.

Ambassador Asim Ahmad dismissed Faiq, saying he “does not represent anyone but himself.”

The Indian envoy had highlighted New Delhi’s humanitarian and capacity-building work in Afghanistan and noted that the Pakistani strikes were carried out during Ramazan.

In response, Ambassador Asim Ahmad accused India of using development and humanitarian assistance as cover to destabilise Pakistan through terrorist proxies, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

He said the international community’s key expectations of the Taliban regime — now in its fifth year — included inclusive governance, human rights, women’s and girls’ rights, and a commitment that Afghan soil would not be used for terrorism. He noted that the Security Council discussion had raised concerns over the Taliban’s non-compliance with those pledges.

Ambassador Asim said it was “amusing” to hear of India’s “newfound love for the Taliban,” calling the shift a reaction to Pakistan’s successful counterterrorism operations against camps inside Afghanistan backed by New Delhi.

“Not once did the Indian envoy condemn the TTP or the BLA — Fitna al Hindustan — who have been targeting innocent Pakistanis. We are not surprised at all,” he said.

“It must be discomforting for India to see its terrorist infrastructure being dismantled and destroyed in Afghanistan by Pakistan’s valiant security forces, who will continue to do whatever is necessary for our self-defence.”

India’s invocation of international law was “laughable,” he said. “It is, in fact, a serial violator of international law.”

The envoy said India had been in illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir for decades, committing what he described as grave and systematic human rights violations corroborated by the international community.

“While we were talking of violations of human rights, of women’s rights and girls’ rights in Afghanistan, how can we be quiet about violations — these grave, persistent, systematic violations of human rights which have been reported and corroborated by the international community.”

He also accused India of persecuting minorities — including Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs — and said the country’s national media was under the control of the BJP government.

“And it is a state sponsor of terrorism — not just in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir or in Pakistan using the Afghan soil, but it is openly aiding, abetting and financing terrorism elsewhere,” he said.

“Extraterritorial assassinations — the international community is now well aware of it in North America, in Canada and the US.”

Ambassador Asim Ahmad further said India was in serious breach of UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir and had violated the Indus Waters Treaty by declaring it in abeyance “without any reason, justification, and in complete breach of the treaty’s provisions and international law.”

On India’s outreach to Afghan cricketers, he said New Delhi had a poor record of promoting sportsmanship — citing the refusal of Indian players and officials to shake hands, as seen during the Asian Cup.

Pakistan, he concluded, was fully aware of India’s “motives and evil designs” and would not allow it to threaten its national security.

“We have stopped them before, and we will do it again, and we will do it always.”