UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Monday welcomed Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s decision to order the immediate reopening of the Pak-Afghan border, more than a month after it was closed following the deadly Sehwan blast said to have been carried out by cross-border terrorists.
“We welcome the reopening of the border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Farhan Haq, Deputy spokesman of the U.N. Secretary-General, said in response to a question from a Pakistani journalist at the regular noon briefing. “We hope that the people of the two countries would be able to move freely between the two countries,” the spokesman added.
More than 80 people, including women and children, were killed and hundreds of devotees injured in the blast at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, Sindh. All border crossing with Afghanistan were sealed soon after the attack. In ordering the reopening of the crossing points between the two countries, Prime Minister Sharif also hoped that the Afghan government would take measures to address the reasons for which the borders were closed by Pakistan.
He said recent incidents of terrorism in Pakistan have been traced back to anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan.
According to an official statement, the Pakistani leader also said that he had reiterated time and again that durable peace in Afghanistan was imperative for peace and security in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan would continue to collaborate with Afghanistan to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the two countries.
