United Nations: India has strongly rejected Pakistan’s claims on religious freedom at the United Nations, accusing Islamabad of double standards on minority rights and funeral practices.

Responding to a discussion on an interim report by UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief Nazila Ghanea, Bhavika Mangalanandan, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission, said Pakistan had no standing to lecture India. She recalled Pakistan’s refusal to accept the bodies of its soldiers killed during the 1999 Kargil War, while stating that the Indian Army had buried several Pakistani soldiers with full military honours and in accordance with Islamic rites

The UN report had raised concerns over the alleged denial of funeral rights in Jammu and Kashmir. India questioned its focus on the burial rights of terrorists, arguing that the rights of victims of terrorism also deserved consideration. Mangalanandan further accused the report of selectively highlighting human rights issues while ignoring comparable concerns elsewhere, including in developed countries.

India also criticised Pakistan’s treatment of religious minorities, saying their population was declining and their rights were routinely violated. It urged Pakistan to concentrate on the situation in areas of Jammu and Kashmir under what it described as Pakistan’s illegal occupation, including Rawalakot.

The exchange marked another sharp diplomatic confrontation between the two countries at the UN, with India framing Pakistan’s intervention as an attempt to deflect attention from its own record on religious freedom and minority protection.