NEW YORK – Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations,Maleeha Lodhi, on Monday said that ongoing troubles with India in Kashmirthreaten Pakistan s attention and considerable influence in a potentialpeace agreement aimed at ending an 18-year conflict involving US andTaliban forces in Afghanistan.
“The current crisis between Pakistan and India will obviously mean thatPakistan will have to put its full focus on its eastern border and it couldaffect what it is trying to do on the front with Afghanistan,” MaleehaLodhi told Fox News. “In other words, our full focus is going to be on theeastern frontier rather than the western front and that could affect thepeace process. Our attention is going to be where we feel there is amilitary threat to us.”
And Pakistan believes that threat is from the Indian border, Lodhiemphasized.
Indian officials have for decades tried to suppress the separatistinsurgency, which gained momentum in the late 1980s with the backing or atleast the quiet acceptance of Pakistan, according to many observers in theinternational community. Pakistan has denied such accusations andconsistently accuses India of committing mass human rights violationsagainst the Kashmiri population.
India has asked Pakistan “over and over” to hand over actionableintelligence pointing to specific terrorist groups in the region. Someinformation has been passed along in recent days, and India is currentlyevaluating that information for certifiable proof of militant activity.
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“But simply to hurl allegations because of your own failure is not aresponsible way to act,” Lodhi charged. “Nor does it bring peace to ourregion.”
*By: Fox News *
