Islamabad spurns Kabul’s charges as groundless

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): Pakistan on Friday dismissed as baseless the Afghan government’s charges that it is supporting non-state actors and terrorist groups across the border to create instability.

Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Nabeel Munir, participating in a Un Security Council debate, spurned as groundless the allegations against his country by the Afghanistan.

He emphasised that Afghanistan should deal with its many challenges instead of casting blame on others. Afghanistan, he claimed, had consumed millions of dollars in international assistance with little to show for it.

Shifting the blame to Pakistan would not help resolve its challenges, he argued. “This forum should not be misused for gratuitous sermons,” the diplomat believed.

Despite having paid a staggering human and financial cost as a result of Afghanistan’s crises, Pakistan had successfully broken the back of terrorist groups operating within its borders, he claimed.

Some complained that its strong actions had pushed terrorists into Afghanistan, but the truth was that the latter’s weak border management was actually at fault, he said.

Munir insisted his country had exercised maximum restraint against that backdrop. Although it had been forced to close its borders temporarily, it had reopened them on purely humanitarian grounds.

“Singling out Pakistan and pinning the blame on it for everything that goes wrong in Afghanistan is neither fair nor accurate,” he said, underlining his country’s sincere engagement in the work of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group.

Pakistan also remained open to the repatriation of refugees, and deserved praise for having hosted more than three million Afghans for some 40 years, the envoy added.

He continued Pakistan remained committed to regional efforts to combat terrorism and drug trafficking. He hoped other partners would share its zeal on the issues.

During the open debate, several speakers expressed deep concern over heightened tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan charged the recent attacks had generally been plotted across the Durand Line in Pakistan.

Sima Samar, chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said Pakistan’s closure of their common border had an adverse effect on the people.

Indian Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said terrorism in Afghanistan had grown enormously in its intensity, brutality and scope in the last few months. Terrorist groups had been able to capture and hold territory, he added.

“The Taliban have tried to expand their influence to territories in north and northeast along with southwest where they traditionally were not so strong,” he said.

“The nexus between terrorist networks and criminal groups has further strengthened,” he noted, saying the unimpeded brutal attacks, territorial gains by terrorist groups with support from outside Afghanistan and the emerging grave humanitarian crises were portents of dreadful times.

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