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Mr. President,
For the past two years, Pakistan has witnessed the suffering of the people of Syria with deep pain and anguish. The Syrian tragedy unfolding under sharp international spotlight has been a challenge to the conscience of the global community. Despite the means and institutions at the disposal of the international community to maintain peace and security, killings have continued unabated in Syria.
And yet it is not a war. It is an internecine warfare in which Syrian is killing Syrian. All those fighting today in that unfortunate land are inflicting wounds on their own body - Syria.
In Syria, weapons speak; and diplomacy is silent.
Syria is in turbulence. More than 70,000 Syrians are dead. Six million people have taken flight, 1.5 million of whom have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. The humanitarian catastrophe in Syria is getting worse by the day. Fires of sectarianism, extremism and terrorism are consuming entire communities and neighbourhoods. The conflict threatens to engulf the whole region. Syria is a ticking bomb for a wider conflict along ethnic and religious lines. There is a risk that huge quantities of sophisticated weapons reaching Syria now would be used to fuel local and regional terrorism in the future.
Mr. President,
There is an urgent need for diplomacy at three levels:
One,an agreement amongst key states of the international community to end the impasse in the Security Council. In this context, we welcome the recent engagement between the United States and Russia.
Two,the Syrian Government and representatives of the opposition should meet, without further delay and without insisting on their caveats and qualifications about the ‘venue’ and ‘representatives’. Their timely decisions will stop further bloodshed and suffering.
Three,regional countries should play a constructive and supportive role to stop killings in Syria and help Syrian people move towards dialogue, reconciliation and transition.
Mr. President,
The hopes for a renewed dialogue in Geneva have been rekindled. Representatives of Syrian Government and opposition should demonstrate maturity to agree on a mechanism with full executive authority, as agreed in the Geneva Communiqué, to negotiate a transition towards reconciliation, peace and stability.
At this stage, the General Assembly and the Security Council should strengthen the hands of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi to revive the stalled Geneva process.
In this dialogue process, Syrian ownership is important. No attempt should be made to impose solutions from outside. The Syrian people will carve their own destiny and decide the nature and structure of their body politic.
This is the time for diplomacy. This is the time for collective wisdom of the international community to stop the current spate of carnage, displacement, and degradation in Syria.
For diplomacy to succeed, supply of weapons to all sides should be stopped forthwith. All sides should heed the Secretary General’s call for arms embargo.
Mr. President,
Pakistan has decided to vote in favour of this United Nations General Assembly resolution primarily to signal its solidarity with the people of Syria, and also with the Arab League, the Gulf States, the OIC and Syria’s neighbours. We understand the compelling imperatives of the sponsors of the resolution.
We would also like to make our position clear on the following issues:
One,this resolution does not give recognition to the Syrian National Coalition.
Two,sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria would not be violated. The SNC may, however, send representative interlocutors of the opposition for dialogue with the Syrian Government, directly or under the auspices of the UN.
Three,we understand that the Syrian Government has given clear assurances to the Secretary General that it would not use chemical or biological weapons. These assurances should be given due weight.
Four,the resolution should have been more balanced to reflect objectively the reality on the ground by assigning responsibility to all sides for the worsening of the situation.
Five,the resolution does not adequately address the rise of terrorism in Syria. Terrorism is elephant in the room. Its dominates Syria. With its global and regional orientation, it will cause devastation in Syria and beyond. Terrorism in Syria is not merely a subset of the conflict in Syria. It has assumed its own independent persona. Efforts to bring peace and stability in Syria will not succeed without adoption and pursuit of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy.
Six,we take note of the resolutions of the League of Arab States insofar as they are related to the resolution of the political situation in Syria.
Seven,we do not think that the time is appropriate for a referral of the situation in Syria, or specific cases related it, to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In closing, we would like to emphasize that this resolution should not become an instrument for division. We hope that it will have positive impact on the revival of the Geneva process; and that it would help make progress towards a substantive dialogue leading to a political dispensation acceptable to Syrian Government and opposition. This resolution is not meant to supplant the Geneva process or prejudge its outcome.
Thank you.