‘Refused to accept bodies of its own soldiers’: India slams Pakistan at UN over Kargil war

New Delhi: India on Friday slammed Pakistan at the United Nations, saying that Islamabad had refused to accept the bodies of its soldiers killed during the Kargil War but continued to speak about religious freedom and faith.

Speaking at the UN, Bhavika Mangalanandan, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of India, said, as reported by PTI, “It is deeply ironic that a State that did not even accept the bodies of its own soldiers who were killed in combat in 1999 in Kargil unabashedly speaks with fervour on faith, religious freedom, and burials.”

The Indian Army recovered the bodies of Pakistani soldiers killed in the Kargil War and provided them with burials after Pakistan refused to acknowledge the involvement of its army personnel in the conflict.

‘Pakistan has no right to lecture India’

She added, “Pakistan’s deep obsession with what is happening in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir should actually be directed at the developments underway in the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal occupation, such as Rawalakot. A State that cannot ensure the safety of its own minorities has no standing to lecture India.”

Mangalanandan further pointed out that the state may curtail the funeral rights of terrorists, but only within legal limits, according to the news agency.

What did Pakistan say at the UN?

Earlier, while addressing the UN, Pakistan claimed, “It is deeply ironic that a State that did not even accept the bodies of its own soldiers who were killed in combat in 1999 in Kargil unabashedly speaks with fervour on faith, religious freedom, and burials.”