|
|
Mr. President,
I wish to
begin by congratulating you on your Presidency of the Security Council and for
presiding over this public meeting on this important subject.
Afghanistan has suffered for twenty-three long years. They have suffered at the
hands of man as well as nature. Afghanistan remains a devastated country and its
people badly in need of outside help. Today, millions of Afghans are either
sheltered abroad as refugees or face tremendous hardship inside their own
country. Afghanistan’s problems are manifold. Its people require emergency
relief assistance, immediately. The country itself needs massive recovery and
reconstruction. Although Afghanistan is turning a new leaf and in spite of hopes
of a better tomorrow, the process entailing complete normalcy and stability
certainly looks to be a long and arduous one.
Mr. President,
Pakistan has welcomed the Bonn Agreement as a landmark event that seeks to bring
about a fundamental change in Afghanistan through peaceful means. This Agreement
forms a basis for evolving a genuinely homegrown, broad-based and multi-ethnic
political dispensation in Afghanistan. A milestone event in this evolution will
be reached next month with the convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga. We hope
that this will be the first step in a process which will ultimately lead to the
establishment of a genuinely representative government in Afghanistan which is
acceptable to all Afghans, and that which promotes unity and stability,
internally, and which respects its international obligations, externally,
including those of its neighbours.
Pakistan also extends its fullest support and cooperation to the United
Nations-led efforts in Afghanistan. We have welcomed the establishment of the
United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). We hope that in
addition to supervising relief and recovery efforts, the UN will continue to
play its role as a facilitator in helping the Afghans to find “homegrown”
solutions to their problems.
Mr. President,
Now that the international community has committed itself to peace, stability,
recovery and reconstruction of Afghanistan, it must remain steadfast in
completing the task that it has begun. We must draw lessons from Afghanistan’s
tragic past. History would have been different, the suffering in Afghanistan,
and the violence which exacerbated it could have been avoided, if the
international community had not walked away from Afghanistan, once success was
achieved in the Cold War.
We are heartened by the assurances of the major powers that this time they would
not walk away from Afghanistan, that they are committed to helping Afghanistan
to build peace through the Bonn political process and to help in the rebuilding
of the economy and society of this war-ravaged land. An Afghanistan, at peace
with itself and at peace with its neighbours can play a vital role for the
promotion of peace, security and cooperation in the region.
Mr. President,
It is apparent that without security inside Afghanistan there can be no
stability, no reconstruction or recovery. It is the essential prerequisite on
which the entire future of Afghanistan and its people depends. The
implementation of the Bonn Agreement, and indeed the political and economic
future of Afghanistan depends on ensuring peace and security there. The Afghan
people have suffered far too long at the hands of ambitious warlords and
fratricidal factions. The international community must, therefore, ensure that
the re-emergence of these trends are not allowed to obstruct the establishment
of a stable political structure in Afghanistan as envisaged in the Bonn
Agreement.
The Bonn Agreement stipulated the establishment of a “United Nations mandated
force” for the maintenance of security for Kabul as well as other areas of the
country. We support the deployment of the International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) in Kabul, and the extension of its mandate for another six months.
We feel that its size and scope must now be expanded and extended to encompass
the entire country, especially its major urban centers. We had joined the
international community in helping to rebuild Afghanistan’s army and police.
Pakistan has offered to assist in the training of the Afghan national army and
police as well as cooperation in drug control and revamping of the judicial
system in Afghanistan. But this processes may be far too slow to address
Afghanistan’s immediate internal security requirements and thus to keep the
implementation of the Bonn process on track.
Mr. President,
Pakistan has been providing shelter to millions of Afghan refugees for over two
decades. We welcome the large on-going return of refugees back to Afghanistan.
We hope that the international efforts will provide adequate financial and
operational means to ensure their rehabilitation, resettlement, and
re-integration into the emerging new Afghan society. Pakistan has pledged 100
million dollars worth of assistance for Afghanistan’s immediate rehabilitation
and reconstruction needs, which includes the reconstruction of its
infrastructure and the rehabilitation of its communications system and power
generation sectors. Out of these 10 million dollars have already been disbursed.
Pakistan has extended its fullest support and cooperation to the Afghan Interim
Administration. We appreciate the warm welcome given by the Afghan Interim
Administration to President Pervez Musharraf, when he visited Kabul this April.
President Musharraf has assured Chairman Karzai that “your agenda is our
agenda”. We are fully committed to maintaining and improving fraternal ties with
Afghanistan and we will continue to work with the Afghan authorities and the
international community for Afghanistan’s recovery and stability.
I thank you, Mr. President.
New York
23 May, 2002