India to UNSC: Speak clearly against terror safe havens

KABUL (Pajhwok): India says peace process and violence cannot go hand in hand in Afghanistan and called for immediate comprehensive ceasefire.

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador TS Tirumurti said on Friday for durable peace in Afghanistan “we have to put an end to terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries operating across the Durand Line”.

Speaking at the Arria Formula Meeting on ‘What can the Security Council do to support the peace process in Afghanistan’, the Indian envoy said the report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team under the Al-Qaeda/Daesh Sanctions Committee has also highlighted the presence of foreign fighters in Afghanistan.

For violence to end in Afghanistan, these terrorist supply chains must be broken, Tirumurti said.

He said Afghanistan can succeed only when terrorism no longer flows across the Durand Line, asking the UN Security Council to speak unequivocally against those providing sanctuary to terrorists.

“It is time that the Security Council speaks unequivocally against violence and terrorist forces and acts against terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens,” he said.

He said terror and violence could not be the instrument to shape Afghanistan’s future or dictate the choices Afghans make.

Tirumurti noted that Afghanistan today is at a critical juncture and it is vital for the international community, especially the UNSC, to send the right message to everyone concerned.

He stressed that the overall objective of “our endeavour has been only to bring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, as that is critical for the peace and security of the whole region” and in order to achieve this, the UNSC needs to ensure that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.

The Indian envoy further stressed that it is important to ensure that the issue of full transit rights to Afghanistan is not used by states to extract political price from Afghanistan.

ma

Visits: 12