Pakistan at UNGA Blasts Afghanistan and India Over Support for Terrorism
Michael Hughes
September 23, 2023
The caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, in his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York City said Islamabad aims to take action against terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan, while in the same address accused India of “state terrorism.”
The remarks come amid heightened tensions between the Taliban government and Islamabad with the latter accusing Kabul of hosting and supporting terrorist elements including the Islamic State and Pakistani Taliban.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, militant attacks inside the country hit a record monthly high in August – with nearly 100 incidents – marking the highest figure for any single month since November of 2014. The group, in another research report, said attacks in the first half of 2023 rose 80% versus the same period in the prior year.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have denied all accusations of wrongdoing or negligence. In fact, according to Voice of America, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, the radical movement in talks with Pakistan this week even vowed that they would “neutralize” the militants.
“Pakistan’s first priority is to prevent and counter all terrorism from and within Afghanistan. Pakistan condemns the crossborder terrorist attacks against Pakistan by the TTP, Daesh and other groups operating from Afghanistan,” Kakar said in his UNGA address on Friday. “We have sought Kabul’s support and cooperation to prevent these attacks. However, we are also taking necessary measures to end this externally encouraged terrorism.”
Peace in Afghanistan, the caretaker prime minister added, is a “strategic imperative” for Pakistan. While Islamabad shares concerns with the international community about women’s rights in Afghanistan, it supports an approach that addresses underlying causes, he said.
“We advocate continued humanitarian assistance to a destitute Afghan population in which Afghan girls and women are the most vulnerable; as well as revival of the Afghan economy and implementation of the connectivity projects with Central Asia,” Kakar said.
Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani at a presser on the sidelines of the assembly said Pakistan embraces a policy of “non-interference” in the internal affairs of other countries while at the same time expects the government in Kabul to take action itself against all groups violating Afghanistan soil to carry out terrorist activities.
The foreign minister also said Pakistan and Taliban have good dialogue, citing the meeting this week in Kabul between Islamabad’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Ambassador Asif Khan Durrani, and Afghan acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi. It was during this session that contacts privy to the talks claim the Taliban made the promise to take “concrete steps” to vanquish the activities of militants plotting attacks against Pakistan.
Pakistan’s finger-pointing about failure to curb extremists was not relegated to the Taliban. The prime minister during the UNGA speech had some choice words for New Delhi as well.
“We must counter all terrorists without discrimination, including the rising threat posed by far-right extremist and fascist groups, such as Hindutva-inspired extremists threatening genocide against India’s Muslims and Christians,” Kakar said after blasting New Delhi’s crackdown in Kashmir.
Kakar then called for opposing “state terrorism,” in another jab at India. Pakistan had been slamming New Delhi all week for allegedly sponsoring the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the incident in Canada has shown that “India’s network of extra-territorial killings has now gone global.”
India of course exercised its right to reply – New Delhi was not going to let this public slap in the face at an international forum stand.
“As a country with one of the world’s worst human rights records, particularly when it comes to minority and women’s rights, Pakistan would do well to put its own house in order before venturing to point a finger at the world’s largest democracy,” Petal Gahlot, a diplomat with India’s UN Mission, said.
She pointed to persecution of minority sects in Pakistan – Christians, Hindus, Ahmadia Muslims and Sikhs.
“A glaring example of the systemic violence against minorities in Pakistan… was the large-scale brutality perpetrated against the minority Christian community in Jaranwala in Pakistan’s Faisalabad District where in August 2023 a total of 19 churches were gutted and 89 Christian houses were burned down” Gahlot added.
For years, the key to peace in Afghanistan was directly tied to tensions between India and Pakistan. Without solving the Kashmir problem, Pakistan would always see the need to maintain an “extended” army inside Afghanistan – the main plank of the strategic depth doctrine (many argue). So, what do we have now? We have India and Afghanistan sharing common ground as being chastised by Islamabad for supporting extremist entities that possess objectives inimical to Pakistan’s national interest.
Call it a lack of introspection, but nothing came from Pakistan’s side on how it would curb the terror elements Rawalpindi has groomed for decades. Be it as a weapon against Afghan and Western forces or in the battle over Kashmir. Apparently, in the eyes of Islamabad, everybody had a problem checking terrorists – except Pakistan.