Pakistan on Saturday regretted over not being allowed to attend the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session on Afghanistan as the Indian permanent representative to the UN, currently president of the council for the month of August, did not accept Islamabad’s request.
The UNSC met on Friday to discuss the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and concluded the session with a joint call urging all parties including Afghan Taliban to reduce violence and seek a political settlement.
The meeting was called after Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar spoke to India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in the wake of Taliban’s assault on major cities and an attack on the residence of Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi in Kabul.
On the other hand, Afghanistan’s representative spread disinformation and levelled baseless allegations against Pakistan with a view to mislead the international community.
“It is a matter of deep regret that, as the closest neighbour of Afghanistan, whose contribution in the ongoing peace process has been recognised by the international community, Pakistan’s request to the President of the Security Council to address the Council’s session and present its perspective on the Afghan peace process and the way forward was not acceded to,” said a foreign office statement a day after the UNSC session.
“On the other hand, the council’s platform was made available to enable the peddling of a false narrative against Pakistan,” the statement added.
Regarding the Afghan representative’s statement’s, the FO said that Pakistan categorically rejects these accusations. Pakistan’s position on the issue has been shared with Security Council members.
Meanwhile, UN Munir Akram told a press conference in New York hours after the UNSC discussed the situation in the war-torn country that Pakistan had made a formal request for participation but it was denied.
“Obviously, we do not expect fairness from the Indian presidency for Pakistan.”
Rejecting allegations about safe havens and sanctuaries as well as cross-border movement of Taliban fighters as “mere fantasies”, the Pakistani envoy said: “Pakistan has eliminated terrorist groups from its soil. There are no safe havens in Pakistan.”
“We would never allow our soil to be used to destabilise Afghanistan and expect the same from Afghanistan,” Akram said.
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“Terrorism possesses a huge challenge to Afghanistan, to its neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan,” Akram said, urging the international community to prevent Afghanistan from being used by Al Qaeda, Daesh and other international terrorist groups.
“Pakistan is especially concerned at the support being provided to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) by a third country,” he said. “So, the shoe is now is on the other foot.”
The ambassador said Pakistan looked forward to the upcoming troika meeting in Doha on Aug 11 and expressed the hope that the meeting would contribute towards peace and stability in Afghanistan.
It is pertinent to mention here that the FO has called upon all warring sides in Afghanistan to engage constructively in negotiations, and work together to secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement.
“We emphatically reiterate that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and that a negotiated political settlement is the only way forward for durable peace and security in the country. Towards that end, Pakistan’s constructive efforts with support of the international community led to achieving important milestones in Doha peace process including the US-Taliban peace agreement and the subsequent commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations,” the FO said in its statement.
“As the US and NATO forces are near completion of their withdrawal from Afghanistan, we are seriously concerned at the growing violence in Afghanistan and lack of substantive progress in the Intra-Afghan Negotiations. Expressing deep concern at the reports of human rights violations, we urge all sides to ensure full respect for human rights and international humanitarian law,” the statement added.
“We also urge the Government of Afghanistan, once again, to refrain from the blame-game and engage with Pakistan in a meaningful manner to address the challenges to peace, security and progress in the region. In this regard, we reiterate the need for effective use of bilateral institutional arrangements such as the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS),” the statement concluded.
