UNITED NATIONS: In a forceful rebuttal of U.S. accusation of terrorist‘safe havens’ on Pakistan’s soil, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told the UNSecurity Council Friday that envisioning that these sanctuaries lie outsideAfghanistan need a reality check.
“Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address thechallenges inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending theconflict onto others,” the Pakistani envoy said in a debate on buildingregional partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Convened by Kazakhstan in its capacity as the President of the securityCouncil for the month of January, the ministerial level debate was chairedby the country’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov.
Responding to US Deputy of State John Sullivan’s charge that Pakistanprovides safe havens inside its territory, Ambassador Lodhi said, “Thosewho imagine sanctuaries are outside Afghanistan need a reality check.”
She also said that any strategy that continues to rely on military forcewas delusional as it would produce more violence, not a political solution.
“After 17 years of war, it is more than evident that neither the Afghangovernment and its military partners, nor the Afghan Taliban are in aposition to impose a military solution on each other,” Ambassador Lodhitold the 15-nation Council.
“It is not enough to pay lip service to a negotiated settlement and then dolittle other than execute a strategy of force and coercion under thedelusion that this will work.”
“At the same time,” she added, “we call on the Taliban to abandon the pathof violence and join talks.”Ambassador Lodhi also hit back at Indian Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin’sallegation about Pakistani mindset of promoting cross-border terrorism,saying, “Those who talk of changing mindsets need to look within, at theirown record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy(Kulbhushan Jadhav) has proven beyond doubt.”
In her remarks, the Pakistani envoy pointed out that over 40 percent ofAfghanistan was under the control of insurgent groups, and that illicitdrug trafficking provided them with a steady financial income estimated atUS$ 400 million a year.
“Indeed, with its safe havens inside the country and income from thenarcotics trade, the insurgency does not need any outside assistance or‘support centers’ to sustain itself,” she added.
Sustainable peace would only be achieved through a negotiated settlement tothe conflict, ambassador Lodhi emphasized.“Apart from Afghanistan, it is Pakistan, which has the most to gain frompeace in Afghanistan,” she said.Pakistan, she said, continues to host the largest protracted presence ofAfghan refugees anywhere in the world.
“My country has been the major victim of terrorism and violence emanatingfrom Afghanistan’s wars,” the Pakistani envoy told delegates.Pakistan has fought and defeated terrorism within Pakistan, and itscounter-terrorism campaign, deploying a 200,000 strong force, has turnedthe tide of terrorism.
“Our ability to totally eliminate terrorist attacks in Pakistan depends oneffective control of the border with Afghanistan,” she said, adding thatIslamabad had enforced stringent border management measures on our side ofthe border — yet to be matched on the other side by the Afghan government.
The Pakistani envoy said despite the large presence of foreign militaryforces in Afghanistan and the large sums of development aid that had beenprovided to the country, security had deteriorated and economic growth hadbeen anaemic. The people of Afghanistan had paid a heavy price for morethan four decades of foreign invasions and bloody civil war.
The entire region had been buffeted by the turmoil, drugs and instabilityradiating from Afghanistan, she said.Strengthening bilateral relations was a priority for her Government, andPakistan had undertaken a number of initiatives to promote the developmentof Afghanistan, including commitments totalling some $1 billion to variousinfrastructure development projects in Afghanistan. Yet, she said none ofthose efforts could be successful without the restoration of peace.
At the outset of the meeting, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extolledthe benefits of regional cooperation, stressing the important roleAfghanistan and neighbouring countries played in forging coordinatedpartnerships in a range of sectors, from energy to transportation.
Despite grave security challenges, with greater regional collaboration andinvestment Central Asia and Afghanistan had the potential to become symbolsof dialogue, peace and the promotion of contacts between cultures,religions and civilizations, he said.