New york: Pakistan has called upon Afghan authorities to take verifiable and non-reversible action against terrorists.
The call was made by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmad while speaking at the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan.
The Ambassador said as a direct result of the freedom with which these terrorist groups operate in Afghanistan, Pakistan has borne the brunt of their attacks as well as Taliban’s growing nexus with these terrorist groups.
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said a significant number of Afghans are found to be involved in terrorism inside Pakistan. These terrorist groups have access to advanced weapons and sophisticated equipment including drones.
The Ambassador said it is deplorable that the Taliban have reverted back to their old tactics of providing safe havens to terrorist groups and chosen the perilous path of complicity, backed by an outside actor, the historic spoiler and instigator of chaos that has moved fast as an opportunist to wag
e a proxy war against Pakistan. He made it clear Pakistan will defend itself against whosoever attempts to harm our sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security.
He said Pakistan will not sit idle while suffering from terrorist acts. He said we will respond in self-defense, as and when needed and always in conformity with international law.
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said Pakistan’s actions, including those conducted in March, were directed solely against the terrorist and military support infrastructure that is operating from Afghanistan. And it is in no way directed against the brotherly people of Afghanistan. So these targets included drone storage and technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage sites, which were being used by the Afghan Taliban regime to carry out attacks against innocent Pakistani civilians.
And the strikes were precise, deliberate and professional. No hospital or drug rehabilitation centre or civilian facility was targeted by these strikes. And as part of established
practice, video footage of all six strikes was released by the Ministry of Information shortly after the operation, clearly showing the nature of the targets. The secondary explosions visible in the footage further confirmed that ammunition storage facilities were indeed struck with precision. So all insinuations to the contrary are not based on facts and are in fact just propaganda.
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that India was calling on others to comply with international law and adhere to the dictates of humanity. It would be laughable if we are not aware of India’s own record, and if the matter under consideration in the Council was not that serious – for we know that India’s true face is truly exposed before the international community. It is a serial violator of international law.
He said that for decades it has been in illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an international dispute on the agenda of this Council, and where it has been engaged in gross and systematic violations of human rights in
the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. And we were talking of violations of human rights, of women’s rights and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. How can we be quiet about violations – these grave, persistent, systematic violations of human rights which have been reported and corroborated by the international community, by human rights organizations, by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations – that India has been perpetrating in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir for decades.
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said ‘And it’s not just that, because India talks about democracy and rule of law, while we are also aware of its own conduct inside its country. Its persecution of minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others against Indian citizens who dare not raise their voice. It talks about disinformation. It has its whole – the entire national media is under control of the BJP’s government, total control of narrative.
And it is a state sponsor of terrorism
– not just in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir or in Pakistan using the Afghan soil, but it is openly aiding, abetting and financing terrorism elsewhere. Extraterritorial assassinations – the international community is now well aware of it in North America, in Canada, in this country, in the US. Everything is exposed. And it talks of international law. It is in serious breach of Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. It has seriously violated the Indus Waters Treaty by declaring that it is holding it in abeyance, without any reason, justification, and in complete defiance of the treaty’s provisions and international law’.
Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said ‘There are so many things that I could have continued to say. It was talking about cricket and sportsman spirit, and we know the sportsman spirit when it refuses to play, or if it refuses to shake hands with the players. This is a country that is coming to the Council and telling us what cricket and sports could bring in terms of peace and har
mony. I think we should seriously consider also how we allow countries to take the floor in this Council, and under what rules and etiquette they should be speaking in this Council. And my advice simply would be for India to do a little bit of introspection. And that it can do by discontinuing its policies of aggression, subversion and sabotage against neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan. And it must look inwards and try to address its own problems rather than spreading disinformation and politicizing debates and discussions’.
He said ‘Pakistan is well aware of India’s motives and evil designs. But we will not allow them to nourish terrorists and threaten our national security. I would say that we have stopped them before and we will do it again, and we will do it always’.