—– UN Ambassador says any process of engagement to be conducted on basis of action taken against terrorist outfits
—– Demands UN probe into TTP acquiring advanced weapons
DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has laid down new conditions for any future engagements between the international community and the Afghan Taliban in a clear and significant departure from its earlier stance that would certainly make the Kabul regime’s international recognition far more challenging.
In what was perceived as a policy announcement, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the UN on Thursday said any process of engagement with the Afghan interim government should be conducted on the basis of the action it takes against terrorist outfits including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Munir Akram’s statement came at the UN Security Council session during a debate on the current situation in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, since the takeover of Kabul in August 2021, urged the international community to engage with the Afghan Taliban. Islamabad believed that the Afghan Taliban were a reality, and there was no other way but to remain engaged with them despite the international community’s reservations.
However, with tensions simmering between Pakistan and the Afghan government over the attacks carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Pakistani soil, Islamabad quietly abandoned advocating for the Afghan Taliban a few months ago. The Express Tribune was the first to break the story. Today, Pakistan’s Ambassador Munir Akram officially confirmed the policy shift, and conditioned any future engagement with the Afghan Taliban on the actions it will take against terrorist outfits.
“Any process of engagement with the Afghan interim government should be conducted on the basis of the action that it takes against these terrorist organizations. Else, we will see the recurrence and proliferation of terrorism from Afghanistan as happened prior to 9/11, threatening not only the region but the entire world,” Ambassador Akram warned at the UNSC.
He said Pakistan hoped that Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu’s assessment will enable the Security Council and all relevant stakeholders in the international community to adopt a comprehensive, long-term and realistic roadmap for Afghanistan’s normalization.
“Any process of engagement with the Afghan interim government must be constituted on the basis of its response to the core concerns of the international community; respect for human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls; political inclusivity; and action to neutralize terrorist organisations in Afghanistan – not only Daesh, but also the TTP and other entities that threaten the security of Afghanistan’s neighbours,” he added.
Akram said the continued presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan constituted the most significant threat to Afghanistan and to the entire region and perhaps the world.
“While the interim authorities have reported some success in the fight against Daesh, the fact is that a number of terrorist groups are living in Afghanistan, evidently under the protection of the Afghan interim government,” he told the UNSC.
“We have lost hundreds of our brave soldiers and civilians in these attacks just this year alone; and last week, a TTP-affiliated group carried out a heinous attack on our security personnel in Dera Ismail Khan, resulting in the loss of more than 23 precious lives.”
“These attacks have become more lethal and sophisticated, since the TTP terrorists have acquired and use advanced military equipment,” he noted.
He maintained that the TTP sourced the arms from considerable stocks left behind by foreign forces when they departed Afghanistan in 2021. “Yet, the question is: how did the TTP – a listed terrorist organization –secure these weapons. Pakistan demands that the United Nations – whether UNAMA or another agency – conduct a thorough investigation to elicit how these weapons got in the hands of the TTP and to identify ways of retrieving them.”
Ambassador Akram said: “It is clear that the TTP has been given a free hand to conduct cross-border attacks against Pakistan’s border outposts and other installations. We also have clear evidence that the TTP receives support from our main adversary.”
He said the UNSC should invigorate the work of the 1988 committee to secure action by the Afghan interim government against all terrorist groups in Afghanistan, and empower the monitoring team to analyze and inform the committee and this council about the progress made on counter-terrorism in Afghanistan.
Defending Pakistan’s policy of evicting undocumented Afghans, Akram said Pakistan had, indeed, paid an enormous price for its 40 years of generosity towards Afghanistan.
“After 40 years, we continue to host 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees with little or no support from the international community. Since the Afghan interim government claims that peace has been restored in Afghanistan, it should work with the High Commission of Refugees to make preparations for the early repatriation of these Afghan refugees. There were another 2.2 million Afghans who are in Pakistan undocumented and illegally present there. These include 700,000 who crossed into Pakistan after the Taliban takeover.”
He added that besides the security threat posed by terrorist ‘sleeper cells’, many of these illegals have to be involved in property mafias, drug trafficking, and other crimes. The inflow of such a large number of Afghans has had a negative impact on Pakistan’s economy and jobs market, Akram maintained.
He said the current plan to repatriate illegal foreigners was unavoidable, a compulsion on Pakistan arising from a legitimate security, economic and social concerns.
However, he insisted that the plan was being implemented in as humane way as possible. “There is no forcible return, except for a number of Afghan criminals in our jails. More than 98% of the over 244,000 Afghan who departed through Torkham last month, were voluntary returns. The Chaman crossing has a similar pattern.”
“We have made exceptions for those who have proof of registration (PoRs); for those who have the Afghan citizenship card and now also for those who are considered vulnerable. These are besides the 60,000 or more who are waiting for two years to be relocated to third countries and we urge those countries to accelerate their process in order to receive these people who they have agreed to receive as such and lighten the burden on Pakistan.”
