March 17, 2016
News
Pakistan calls for a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan
NEW YORK: A negotiated peace in Afghanistan was the best and only hope for stability and prosperity for the country and the entire region, said Pakistan Ambassador to United Nations Maleeha Lodhi while speaking in the Security Council debate on Afghanistan. Lodhi said it was gratifying that the international community had reached a firm consensus that a political settlement was the only way to achieve peace in Afghanistan. This, she emphasised, what Pakistan had consistently advocated and recommended to end the decade-old war and suffering endured by the Afghan people. Peace in Afghanistan, she reaffirmed, is in Pakistan’s vital interest.
The Pakistani envoy told the 15-member council that “a promising beginning” had been made to foster a negotiating process for peace talks in the last couple of months. Ambassador Lodhi described the positive momentum generated by the successful meeting at the Heart of Asia conference hosted by Islamabad jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ashraf Ghani.
Lodhi explained the success of this new mechanism was predicated on the shared commitment and shared responsibility of each of its four members. “Each member must play its part in moving the process forward towards our common objective,” she asserted.
Pakistan’s ambassador depicted the task ahead as complex and arduous and urged that expectations be kept realistic and strategic patience should be exercised. “What was vital now is to create an enabling environment to operationalise and sustain a peace process.”
She identified a number of factors critical for establishing an Afghan-led peace process. such an environment. First, Lodhi said, there should be consistent and unified positions and declarations from the Afghan government affirming its commitment to work for a negotiated peace. She welcomed, in this regard, the recent statements by the Afghan leadership and the revamping of the High Peace Council.
Secondly, she said, there must be a demonstrated capacity by the Afghan security forces which would “force” the Taliban to return to the negotiating table. Third, she said, all four members of the QCG must use their respective influence and political capital to contribute to the success of the process.
Ambassador Lodhi assured the council that Pakistan would play its due part. As a first step it had offered to host direct talks between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban, she said, adding the cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be a vital component of the endeavour to realise peace and security within Afghanistan and the entire region. She said a greater cooperation on border management to stop the movement of terrorists has become crucial to sustain peace.
She pointed to incursions by TTP terrorists across the international border from Afghanistan and expressed concern that despite repeated calls for cooperation by Pakistan, Kabul had not been forthcoming so far.
She concluded by saying that Pakistan looked forward to “a relationship with Afghanistan based on shared values and interests and respect for each other’s sensitivities”. “We stand committed to working with Afghanistan for the improvement of the relationship for the mutual benefit of our peoples”, she added.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk