Pakistan urges dialogue between Afghan govt and Taliban

NEW YORK: Pakistan on Tuesday stressed on the need for an unconditional dialogue between the Afghan Taliban and Afghanistan government.

This was stated by Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, during an annual debate in the General Assembly regarding the situation in Afghanistan. She added that a military intervention from either side did not represent a solution to the conflict and negotiations represented a way forward to achieve an end to the war.

“Neither the Coalition and Kabul nor the Afghan Taliban can impose a military solution on each other,” Dr Lodhi told the 193 member UN body.

She asserted that continued military action in Afghanistan for the past 16 years by the world’s most powerful nations had not resolved issues. “The promotion of a political settlement and the pursuit of a military solution in Afghanistan are mutually incompatible”, Ambassador Lodhi said adding that resorting to the military option without an accompanying political strategy will not produce a result different from the past”. She regretted that it would only disrupt the regional peace and security further and spread more violence.

She further highlighted that the international community unanimously believes that peace in Afghanistan can only be sustained through negotiations and dialogue. “The resolution that the GA adopted today reaffirms this international consensus”, she emphasised.

Maleeha further stressed that Pakistan had always proposed a political settlement as the most suitable means of ending the conflict and suffering in Afghanistan.

Ambassador Lodhi expressed the hope that the Afghan peace and reconciliation plan will initiate efforts for reaching a political settlement.

Ambassador Lodhi also discussed the repercussions of the Afghan conflict for Pakistan including terrorism.

She said, “We have deployed 200,000 troops on our western border; we have conducted the largest anti-terrorism campaign anywhere in the world; these military campaigns have succeeded in clearing our tribal areas of almost all militant and terrorist groups”.

“Over 27,000 Pakistanis, including 6,500 military and law enforcement personnel have been martyred as a result of terrorism. Pakistan’s economic losses are estimated at over $120 billion”, she apprised highlighting the heavy price that Pakistan had paid as a result of the Afghan conflict.

In her statement, Ambassador Lodhi also emphasised the various steps that Pakistan had taken to support Afghanistan on various fronts including its economy and development.

“Pakistan facilitates the transit of Afghan goods without any quantitative restrictions. We have recently taken a series of additional measures, to facilitate transit trade she said.

She called for closer cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure sustained peace in the South-Asian region.