India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti. (File photo)
New York:
India on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Pakistan at the United Nations Security Council, saying that Islamabad has been disrupting the peace process in Afghanistan by helping terror groups like Al-Qaida, ISIS – launch violent attacks in Khorasan Province (ISIL-K) in the neighbouring country.
“It is essential that we don’t lose sight of the ease with which the proscribed Haqqani Network and its supporters, especially the Pakistani authorities, have worked along with prominent terrorist organizations like Al-Qaida, ISIL K, Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan, etc. in South Asia, said India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti while speaking at the Security Council Briefing on ”Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts” on Tuesday.
He added that the UN Secretary General’s report on ISIL should also cover activities of the proscribed terrorist entities under ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions regime like Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan based terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad and “frontal organizations that raise funds for their activities.”
“The world is fully aware that these groups also perpetrate terrorist activities from safe havens in Pakistan, including through violent attacks in Afghanistan that have disrupted the peace process. We are also witnessing the relocation of terror groups to Afghanistan especially in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, across the Durand Line,” the Indian envoy stated.
Mr Tirumurti reiterated External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s eight-point action plan during the January assembly that was inclusive of summoning the political will; don’t justify terrorism, don’t glorify terrorists and “No double standards. Terrorists are terrorists. A no good or bad distinction to be made.”
He said that India welcomes the programmes that are launched by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office global programs launched by UNOCT to assist member states in building their capacities to prevent and counter-terrorism and acknowledge the direct utility of the Global Countering Terrorist Travel Program and the Global Program on Countering the Financing of Terrorism to prevent and detect travel of foreign terrorists and funding of terrorist entities.
The envoy reiterated India’s full support for counter-terrorism cooperation under the auspices of the UN. “India has been at the forefront of global counter-terrorism efforts, has taken part in all major global initiatives against international terrorism and is a party to all 13 United Nations” sectoral conventions relating to terrorism,” he said further.
The intra-Afghan peace talks between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban had resumed in January but no progress till now has been made.
The talks were overshadowed by a series of disagreements and a surge in violence, including armed clashes and blasts across the country.
However, Former Pakistan senator Afrasiab Khattak had said that Islamabad has been using the Taliban as a “tool” for its dominance in Afghanistan under the pretext of strategic depth.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reiterated that the world and all stakeholders should respect the rules of sovereignty and international relations.
“For a guarantee of a stable and prosperous Afghanistan, we must ask the world and all stakeholders to respect the rules of sovereignty and international relations. Stop giving sanctuaries and stop interfering in the affairs of their neighbours,” the Afghan President said.