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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
NATO attack violation of UN charter: PakistanUNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has told the UN Security Council that last month’s NATO cross-border air strikes that killed over two dozen Pakistani soldiers was a “transgression of Pakistan’s territorial integrity and a flagrant violation of the UN Charter.”
“The attack on Pakistan border post on 26 November 2011, which resulted in martyrdom of 25 soldiers, was a grave incident,” Raza Bashir Tarar, Pakistan’s acting permanent representative to the UN, told the 15-nation council on Monday. As a result of that attack, Tarar said Pakistan had been constrained to absent itself from the Bonn Conference. Still, when the federal cabinet had taken that decision, it had also expressed hope that the international community would reaffirm its support for peace and development, he said, adding that Pakistan had looked forward to the meeting’s success.
“We want the international community to succeed in Afghanistan because this success is in Pakistan’s own national interest,” the Pakistani envoy said while participating in a debate on the situation in Afghanistan, recalling that the secretary general’s report described Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan as paramount in furthering peace, reconciliation and stability. “Pakistan looks forward to contribute, as effectively as possible, in an environment free from recrimination and blame game, and on the basis of mutual respect and trust,” he said. “Speculative statements made in a knee-jerk reaction vitiate the atmosphere and erode mutual trust. Such blame game must stop,” he added.
The Pakistani envoy went on to emphasise that Pakistan could not be held responsible for the problems and challenges afflicting Afghanistan. Instead, the international community, Pakistan and Afghanistan must work closely as responsible partners, in a cooperative manner, and not rush to judgement or question each other’s intentions. “We are not preaching something that we do not practise,” he stressed. Pakistan has never resorted to blame game, even when militants cross over from the other side and attack our troops and innocent civilians. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk