Calls upon Middle East, North Africa, Euro Asia to learn from Pakistan’s sufferings due to blowback of terrorism, extremism
Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said Tuesday that he was worried about the dangerous turn of events in the Middle East, North Africa and Euro Asia because Pakistan had suffered grievously from sustained blowback of terrorism and extremism and urged the countries involved to learn from history.
Addressing a conference on militancy organised by Iranian Institute of Political and International Studies and presided over by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Zardari said that state fragility in the heart of Middle East caused by non state actors from different parts of the world including the West was a huge challenge.
He recalled that as president, he resisted global attempts to rush into wars in the Middle East because any support to rebel groups would trigger state meltdowns and security vacuums. He said Pakistan did not vote with its non-NATO allies at the United Nations (UN) for intervening in Syria mainly because he had seen what chaos such choice had brought in the past.
Thirty years back, during a game between super powers, the international community and short-sighted policies together fanned terrorism and extremism, he said. Pakistan and its neighbours still suffer the aftershocks in form of refugees, conflict economy of narcotics, Kalashnikovs and extremist mindsets, said Zardari. Our border areas became the refuge of militants on the run and made this area for over a decade the nursery of international terrorism, he added.
SHUN SECTARIAN CONFLICT:
Terrorism and extremism are the core challenges, said Zardari and warned against sectarian conflict brewing in the Islamic world.
He urged the audience to stop blaming one another and look for long-term solutions and “big-ticket changes in policy and course correction”, adding that course corrections do not come without a price-tag of blood.
Pakistan’s efforts to battle extremism, sectarianism and terrorism evident, he said, expressing hope that the world will no longer accuse Pakistan of using militants for advancing its security and foreign policy agendas in the region.
“I am encouraged that Pakistan’s determination to stand against terrorism is also reflected in the new Afghan president’s declaration that he wishes to forget the past and start afresh”.
PAKISTAN AND NEIGHBOURS:
Consistent outreach and non-interference in Afghanistan are vital for a politically stable Afghanistan which is important for peace in Pakistan, said Zardari.
He reiterated moving past “coercive diplomacy” with India, adding that Pakistan is looking to invest in peace in the region but “will not respond well to conditions messaged at us across the working boundary or media”. “Hard postures are not the way forward for mature countries.”
He urged regional leaders to recognise the “new enemies” including poverty, displacements and food and water insecurity.
Some hard choices have to be made and “peace in this region will continue to elude us until the legitimate aspirations of the people of Palestine and Kashmir are met”, he said.
TAPI CASA and IPI pipelines are the motors we need for growth for provision of jobs in a marketplace where extremism thrives due to deprivations, said Zardari.
He said he supported Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy as it is essential for the survival and development of countries that host large populations and expressed hope that Iran “find pathways that accommodate both national and global compulsions”.
Later, Zardari and the Iranian president discussed bilateral, regional and international issues.
