Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has said that fragile truce in the Middle East could have negative repercussions for the region, it was reported on Wednesday.
Speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday, he said that a pause in diplomatic efforts had resulted in widening the gap between the parties to the conflict on Iran’s nuclear issue. “Pakistan wants a peaceful solution to all issues, including the nuclear one,” he said, and added that it was only through diplomatic efforts and sustained dialogue that a solution to all the issues could be found.
Iftikhar said that Pakistan wanted the USA and Iran to come to the negotiating table so that the war could be brought to an end.
On Monday, while using the right of reply to Indian delegates speech during a meeting of the UNSC on the situation in Afghanistan, the ambassador had said that India’s key aims and objectives, under the disguise of development or humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, are solely driven by the singular goal of destabilizing Pakistan, including by using terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil.
He said “India is a state sponsor of terrorism — not just in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir or in Pakistan using the Afghan soil, but it is openly aiding, abetting and financing terrorism elsewhere. Extraterritorial assassinations — the international community is now well aware of it in North America, in Canada, in this country, the US. Everything is exposed.”
So, to us, it is absolutely clear — India’s key aims and objectives, even though under the garb of, under the disguise of development or humanitarian assistance, it’s key aims and objectives in Afghanistan are solely driven by the singular goal of destabilizing Pakistan, including by using terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil. And that includes the TTP, which so many of my colleagues around the table condemned, and the BLA, which acts as a proxy of India to perpetrate terrorism inside Pakistan. And I, in fact, I thank him because I committed myself from mentioning this, but I thank him for recalling to everyone in the Council and those who were listening that the BLA — its other name is Fitna al-Hindustan, yes, that’s what it is.
It is an organization that is supported and financed by India to destabilize and target Pakistan. And I think for some time we are amused, perhaps, to listen to India’s newfound love for the Taliban. We know all the history, what’s there in the background. All those years where we knew what India’s position was. But for us, this is not a coincidence.
This shift of policy comes at the heels of Pakistan’s successful counterterrorism operations against the terrorist hideouts and camps that are operating inside Afghanistan with the active support of India. And as I said before, Mr Faik, for once, condemned terrorism emanating from Afghanistan which is directed towards Pakistan, which is impacting Pakistan, which is costing us, lives of hundreds of Pakistani nationals, including women and children, our security and law enforcement personnel.
But I’m sure you would have noticed that not once did the representative of India condemn the TTP or the BLA – yes, Fitna al-Hindustan – who have been carrying out attacks targeting innocent Pakistanis who have tragically lost their lives at the hands of these terrorists. We are not astonished. We are not surprised at all. Because we know very well that India’s hostile policies and complicity is further validated by the remarks of its representative today, and I seriously believe that this behaviour should be a cause of concern for the Security Council and the international community. Because as I was mentioning earlier, more than 1,200 Pakistanis lost their lives last year alone. They were human beings with families like all of us, with ambitions, with hopes for a better future. But they were silenced by a group of cowardly terrorists backed by a country whose representative was trying to lecture this Council, and in fact, in the process, was actually trying to mask its own involvement in this bloodshed that is happening in Pakistan.
So, it is obviously — it must be discomforting for India to see its terrorist infrastructure being dismantled and destroyed in Afghanistan by Pakistan’s valiant security forces, who I must say, and I repeat, who will continue to do whatever is necessary for our self-defence. India was calling on others to comply with international law and adhere to the dictates of humanity. It would be laughable if we are not aware of India’s own record, and if the matter under consideration in the Council was not that serious — for we know that India’s true face is truly exposed before the international community. It is a serial violator of international law.
For decades it has been in illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an international dispute on the agenda of this Council, and where it has been engaged in gross and systematic violations of human rights in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. And we were talking of violations of human rights, of women’s rights and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. How can we be quiet about violations — these grave, persistent, systematic violations of human rights which have been reported and corroborated by the international community, by human rights organizations, by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations — that India has been perpetrating in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir for decades.
And it’s not just that, because India talks about democracy and rule of law, while we are also aware of its own conduct inside its country. Its persecution of minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others against Indian citizens who dare not raise their voice. It talks about disinformation. It has its whole — the entire national media is under control of the BJP’s government, total control of narrative. And it is a state sponsor of terrorism — not just in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir or in Pakistan using the Afghan soil, but it is openly aiding, abetting and financing terrorism elsewhere. Extraterritorial assassinations — the international community is now well aware of it in North America, in Canada, in this country, in the US. Everything is exposed. And it talks of international law. It is in serious breach of Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. It has seriously violated the Indus Waters Treaty by declaring that it is holding it in abeyance, without any reason, justification, and in complete defiance of the treaty’s provisions and international law.
There are so many things that I could have continued to say. It was talking about cricket and sportsman spirit, and we know the sportsman spirit when it refuses to play, or if it refuses to shake hands with the players. This is a country that is coming to the Council and telling us what cricket and sports could bring in terms of peace and harmony. Madam President, I think we should seriously consider also how we allow countries to take the floor in this Council, and under what rules and etiquette they should be speaking in this Council.
