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Mr. President,
We thank the Secretary General for his report and Special Representative Tadamichi Yamamoto for his briefing this morning.
These reports, and the Secretary-General’s own conclusions following his visit to Kabul last week, confirm the growing concern and alarm at the deteriorating political, economic and security situation in Afghanistan.
Mr. President,
Pakistan strongly condemns the repeated, large scale and orchestrated terrorist attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan. There can be no justification for the murder and mayhem aimed at innocent civilians. Pakistan is also a principal victim of terrorism. We share the pain and the agony of the Afghan people and wish to work with them to defeat and eliminate the scourge of terrorism and violence from Afghanistan and our region.
Mr. President,
We hope that the political differences that have become more pronounced recently within the Afghan Government will be reconciled by President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah and other political leaders and groups. The continued economic and political support to the Afghan Government from the international community remains essential for the preservation of political amity and the implementation of governance reforms.
Mr. President,
Apart from internal differences, Afghanistan's security faces a twin challenge: the insurgency, led by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Afghanistan ( TTA), on the one hand, and the campaign of terrorism, promoted by the so-called Islamic State or Daesh, on the other. Several terrorist groups are now associated with IS: the Tehrik- i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jamaat ul Ahrar, IMU, ETIM and other terrorist groups. These violent groups not only threaten Afghanistan and its neighbors but also pose a global terrorist threat.
Mr. President,
It has been Pakistan's consistent view that peace can be restored in Afghanistan only through a negotiated settlement between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban. This has long been the consensus of the international community. A negotiated peace is also the conclusion of the distinguished Secretary General following his visit to Afghanistan last week.
Over the years, Pakistan has done what it can, when asked, to help facilitate such a negotiated settlement. Pakistan initiated the Murree talks in July 2015, which were scuttled by a series of well-known developments.
Thereafter, we sought to resuscitate the talks under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG); but this endeavor too was aborted.
Pakistan has continued to engage in all other processes designed to promote a political solution: the Heart of Asia, 6+1, International Contact Group, QCG, Moscow Format, and, most recently, the Kabul process.
The promotion of a political settlement and the pursuit of a military solution in Afghanistan are mutually incompatible. Continued reliance on a military option or enhancement in troop numbers without an accompanying political strategy will not produce a result other than that witnessed in the past 15 years. It will instead lead to more violence and bloodshed for the Afghan people; it will not yield a political solution.
Mr. President,
Nor can the resilience of the insurgency be explained away by convenient references to external "safe havens" or “support centers”. Given that large areas of Afghanistan are now under the control of the Afghan Taliban, their "safe havens" are inside, not outside, Afghanistan. As a country that continues to host over two million Afghan refugees, Pakistan expects the gratitude and not hostility from the Afghan government. On our part, Pakistan's Zarb e Azb and the subsequent Raddul Fassad military operations have succeeded in crushing or expelling all terrorist and militant groups from Pakistan's tribal territory bordering Afghanistan.
Despite the provocative remarks made by the distinguished representative of Afghanistan, Pakistan is committed not to allow its territory to be used for terrorism against other countries. We are implementing border controls, including the fencing and monitoring of vulnerable sections of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Any issue relating to cross border terrorism and cross border violations can be raised and discussed in the coordination mechanisms including the bilateral mechanism for intelligence sharing and cooperation in border management established in March 2017.
Mr. President,
In Astana earlier this month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ashraf Ghani agreed to re-energize Pakistan-Afghanistan cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism from our region. They also agreed to revitalize the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
We urge all parties - in particular the Tehreek i Taliban Afghanistan and all its constituent groups to return to the path of negotiations in response to the call made by the Secretary General. Pakistan and Afghanistan's other friends can assist in promoting a negotiated settlement. But peace can be negotiated only when the Afghan parties desire it; when they agree to eschew a military solution.
Mr. President,
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 IS and the terrorist groups affiliated with it. Among them, the TTP and the Jamat ul Ahrar target Pakistan from their bases in Afghanistan. These groups must be rooted out from these bases as part of the counter terrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
Mr. President,
Apart from Afghanistan itself, there is no country other than Pakistan, which has suffered more from the wars and violence that have engulfed Afghanistan for over 35 years. There is no other country, which will gain more from peace in Afghanistan. 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 fraternal nations.
I thank you.