Press Trust Of India
United Nations, Nov 20: In a veiled attack on Pakistan, India Tuesday called for ending special terror zones, safe havens and sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan, saying addressing global terrorism needs an uncompromising response from the international community.
It is imperative to address the support terror groups like the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, ISIS, al-Oaeda and its designated affiliates such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, operating outside the fabric of international law, draw from outside Afghanistan, Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Tanmaya Lal said.
“The Special Terrorist Zones, safe havens and sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan’s border must end,” Lal told a special meeting of the UN General Assembly on Afghanistan.
Addressing global terrorism needs a comprehensive, uncompromising and a cohesive response from the international community.
Afghanistan’s security and stability is tied to that of the entire region, he said, adding that India continues to support the government and the people of Afghanistan in realising a stable, secure, united, prosperous, democratic and pluralistic country.
“We deeply value the continuing sacrifice of the Afghan security forces not just for their own people, but also people of the region and the rest of the world,” Lal said.
The UN Security Council, while acting on the funds which the terrorists in Afghanistan are generating through their illicit activities, can effectively utilise the 1988 sanctions regime to leverage for promoting peace, the envoy said.
“However, this has not happened. While the cowardliness and the frequency of terror attacks in Afghanistan have reached new heights, and the terrorists continue to gain territory and resources of Afghan people, unfortunately, here in this body, we have witnessed little change.
“The Security Council is still debating whether or not to designate new leaders or to freeze the assets of the slain leader of the Taliban. Even as this debate is going on, we find new threats being posed by ISIS/Daesh in Afghanistan,” Lal said at the special debate.
Afghanistan CEO Dr Abdullah Abdullah was also present on the occasion.
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Maleeha Lodhi said that the intensifying violence and instability in Afghanistan, and the growing presence of Daesh and a large number of other terror and militant groups in its ungoverned spaces, is a cause for grave concern for the Afghan people, for Afghanistan’s neighbors and the international community.
