At
the UN, Pakistan called for support to a peace process between the
Afghan Government and the Afghan insurgency that can bring the war to a
political end, says a press release received here today from New York.
Speaking in the Security Council
debate on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Dr. Maleeha Lodhi said
that the Secretary-General has affirmed the strong international consensus that
there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. Pakistan has
long advocated this.
She also called upon the Taliban
to shed violence and agree to resume talks in one or more negotiating formats.
“An agreed de-escalation of the conflict and a negotiated settlement offers the
best chance to end the suffering of the Afghan people and
restore peace and tranquility within Afghanistan and the region”,
Ambassador Lodhi said.
She reiterated what Pakistan’s Prime
Minister had stated in the General Assembly last
week, “What Pakistan is not prepared to do
is fight the Afghan war on Pakistan’s soil."
The Pakistani envoy also said "We
cannot endorse any strategy that has repeatedly failed in the past and would
only prolong and intensify the suffering of the people of Afghanistan as well
further destabilize the entire region”.
Ambassador Lodhi outlined three
components of a strategy that she argued could restore peace in Afghanistan,
namely, a coordinated effort to contain and defeat Daesh and Al Qaeda and their
associates, including the TTP, JUA, ETIM and IMU; a sustained dialogue between
the Afghan Government and Afghan Taliban and other insurgents willing to
negotiate a peaceful settlement and effective measures to prevent cross border
attacks by terrorists and militants from or to Afghanistan.
The fundamental sources of insecurity
in Afghanistan lie inside and not outside, Ambassador Lodhi said and pointed
out that the Afghan government would be better advised to focus more seriously
on its persisting challenges and embark on a course correction.
Ambassador Lodhi warned the Council about Daesh’s expanding reach in Afghanistan, including in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces and its increased influence in the northern and western provinces. “These are worrying signs for Afghan security and for regional stability”, she remarked.
She
said that the more than 20 terrorist organizations operating from its soil
has been acknowledged by Afghan government, including the Tehrik
Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat Ul Ahrar. “These organizations are
conducting terrorist attacks inside Pakistan and pose a threat to Afghanistan's
other neighbors”, she added.
Urging the Afghan Government and
Coalition forces to take decisive action to eliminate terrorist safe havens in
Afghanistan, she said that Pakistan continues to face terrorist attacks from
across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border conducted by the TTP, JUA and IS-related
groups.
Pakistan, she said, has supported all
regional and international efforts to promote a peaceful settlement to the
internal conflict in Afghanistan and added, “We will continue to do so”.
Ambassador Lodhi told the 15 member
council that Pakistan has fought a successful war against terrorism. “Our
military operations, involving over 200,000 troops, have crushed and eliminated
terrorist groups in our frontier regions and our towns and cities. We have paid
a heavy price: 27,000 civilians and soldiers have been martyred; 50,000
injured. Our economic losses are estimated at $120 billion”.
Pakistan expressed its commitment to
extending all possible assistance to Afghan brothers and sisters, including by
facilitating the transit of Afghanistan’s imports and exports through our
ports, helping in construction of infrastructure projects through the
utilization of the 500 million dollar commitment we made in Brussels
and extending our assistance to the Afghan forces in securing their
country.
Pakistan, Ambassador Lodhi said, has
struggled together with the Afghan people to uphold their freedom from foreign
occupation and intervention. “We strongly support Afghanistan's sovereignty. We
strongly oppose its use in geo-political power games"
She concluded by commenting that while
others can afford to orchestrate a proxy war to destabilize Afghanistan and its
neighbors, for Pakistan a stable Afghanistan is vital for our own peace,
stability and progress.