New Delhi, Dec. 2: A global conference on human trafficking in Brazil gave Indian delegates embarrassing moments with international delegates questioning the country’s failure to seal its borders from armed terrorists.

In an apparent reference to last week’s Mumbai terror attacks, foreign delegates asked India how it planned to control cross-border trafficking when it was unable to prevent gun-wielding terrorists from sailing into its territory, government officials who attended the conference at Rio de Janeiro have said.

“The manner in which an aspiring superpower like India allowed itself to become hostage to 10 terrorists for three days was referred to as shocking by some delegates,” said a source in the women and child development ministry who attended the conference.

The reaction at the conference, organised by Unesco between November 26-28, suggested “a sense of international disapproval over India’s immediate reaction to the terror strikes”, another delegate said. Over 125 countries attended.

“One European delegate directly asked me the bribe required to illegally enter Indian waters. He had obviously assumed that the terrorists had entered India by bribing customs or coast guard officials,” the delegate said.

India is both a significant source and a major destination in the international human trafficking trade, besides trafficking between states within the country.

Thousands of children, especially girls, are trafficked every year from Bangladesh into India and sent to major Indian cities to work. Indian children are also trafficked to several countries, especially to West Asia. Human trafficking from India to the West is also common, according to government officials.

“We faced sniggers and jokes on our porous borders throughout the conference. The terror attacks in Mumbai appeared to be on everyone’s minds,” the ministry official said, clarifying that the delegates also offered commiserations on the attacks.

The trafficking conference was held to forge a united blueprint to battle trafficking. Each participant, including India, presented its individual plan of action. A joint plan is to be prepared in a month.