Kabul peace process: Taliban safe havens inside not outside Afghanistan, says Maleeha
Envoy to UN says Pakistan implementing border controls; stresses dialogue only way forward
PHOTO: INP
UNITED NATIONS:
Pakistan has told the UN Security Council that the Afghan Taliban's ‘safe havens’ are inside, not outside, Afghanistan, given the large areas they control in that war-torn country.
During a debate on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s permanent representative to UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi asserted that Islamabad was committed not to allow its territory to be used for terrorism against other countries.
“Pakistan's Zarb-e-Azb and the subsequent Radd-ul-Fassad military operations had succeeded in eliminating all terrorist and militant groups from its tribal territory bordering Afghanistan,” the envoy stressed.
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She told the 15-member council that Pakistan is "implementing border controls, including the fencing and monitoring of vulnerable sections of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border."
In response to some provocative remarks made by her Afghan counterpart during the debate, she said that “as a country that continues to host over two million Afghan refugees, Pakistan expects gratitude, not hostility from the Afghan government.”
The main thrust of ambassador Lodhi's remarks centred around the need for a negotiated end to the Afghan war. She said that it had been Pakistan's consistent position that peace could be restored only through a negotiated settlement between Kabul and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan.
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This, she pointed out, had also long been the consensus of the international community, noting that a negotiated peace was also backed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who recently visited Kabul.
“Promotion of a political settlement and the pursuit of a military solution in Afghanistan are mutually incompatible," she underscored.
Continued reliance on a military option, or enhancing troop numbers without an accompanying political strategy, would only lead to more violence and bloodshed, ambassador Lodhi told the Security Council. "It would not yield a political settlement."
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Stressing the need to find a negotiated solution, she said that "over the years, Pakistan has done what it can, when asked, to help facilitate such a negotiated settlement."
Lodhi referred in this regard to the 2015 Murree talks and efforts under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) framework; as also her country's engagement with the Heart of Asia conference, International Contact Group, Moscow Format, and, most recently, the Kabul process, among others.
“But while others can help by promoting a negotiated settlement, peace can only be negotiated when the Afghan parties desired it and eschewed a military solution”.
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“Today there is every reason for the Afghan parties and their friends, to pursue the path of a negotiated peace. All of them face a common threat from ISIS and the terrorist groups affiliated with it," she added.
"Among them, the TTP and the Jamatul Ahrar target Pakistan from their bases in Afghanistan," Lodhi claimed.
"There is no other country, which will gain more from peace in Afghanistan," Pakistan’s envoy reiterated before the UN Security Council.
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"We are confident that, whatever our differences in the past, in the end, the deep bonds of religion, culture, history and geography between Pakistan and Afghanistan will assert themselves and produce an era of peaceful and mutually beneficial cooperation between our nations."
Earlier, in a scathing report Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, warned that the recent surge of violent attacks in Afghanistan could signal a much worse and more fragile period ahead, as he called for urgent action to strengthen stability, including through improving the Government's credibility, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and avoid violence.
Pakistan has told the UN Security Council that the Afghan Taliban's ‘safe havens’ are inside, not outside, Afghanistan, given the large areas they control in that war-torn country.
During a debate on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s permanent representative to UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi asserted that Islamabad was committed not to allow its territory to be used for terrorism against other countries.
“Pakistan's Zarb-e-Azb and the subsequent Radd-ul-Fassad military operations had succeeded in eliminating all terrorist and militant groups from its tribal territory bordering Afghanistan,” the envoy stressed.
Rising tension in Kashmir can destabilise South Asia: Maleeha Lodhi
She told the 15-member council that Pakistan is "implementing border controls, including the fencing and monitoring of vulnerable sections of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border."
In response to some provocative remarks made by her Afghan counterpart during the debate, she said that “as a country that continues to host over two million Afghan refugees, Pakistan expects gratitude, not hostility from the Afghan government.”
The main thrust of ambassador Lodhi's remarks centred around the need for a negotiated end to the Afghan war. She said that it had been Pakistan's consistent position that peace could be restored only through a negotiated settlement between Kabul and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan.
Pakistan committed to eliminating conflict-related sexual violence: Maleeha Lodhi
This, she pointed out, had also long been the consensus of the international community, noting that a negotiated peace was also backed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who recently visited Kabul.
“Promotion of a political settlement and the pursuit of a military solution in Afghanistan are mutually incompatible," she underscored.
Continued reliance on a military option, or enhancing troop numbers without an accompanying political strategy, would only lead to more violence and bloodshed, ambassador Lodhi told the Security Council. "It would not yield a political settlement."
Pakistan calls for nuclear restraint in South Asia
Stressing the need to find a negotiated solution, she said that "over the years, Pakistan has done what it can, when asked, to help facilitate such a negotiated settlement."
Lodhi referred in this regard to the 2015 Murree talks and efforts under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) framework; as also her country's engagement with the Heart of Asia conference, International Contact Group, Moscow Format, and, most recently, the Kabul process, among others.
“But while others can help by promoting a negotiated settlement, peace can only be negotiated when the Afghan parties desired it and eschewed a military solution”.
UN terror debate: Pakistan warns against defaming Islam
“Today there is every reason for the Afghan parties and their friends, to pursue the path of a negotiated peace. All of them face a common threat from ISIS and the terrorist groups affiliated with it," she added.
"Among them, the TTP and the Jamatul Ahrar target Pakistan from their bases in Afghanistan," Lodhi claimed.
"There is no other country, which will gain more from peace in Afghanistan," Pakistan’s envoy reiterated before the UN Security Council.
Like Malala, Pakistanis will reject those who challenge its vision: Lodhi
"We are confident that, whatever our differences in the past, in the end, the deep bonds of religion, culture, history and geography between Pakistan and Afghanistan will assert themselves and produce an era of peaceful and mutually beneficial cooperation between our nations."
Earlier, in a scathing report Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, warned that the recent surge of violent attacks in Afghanistan could signal a much worse and more fragile period ahead, as he called for urgent action to strengthen stability, including through improving the Government's credibility, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and avoid violence.