Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has exhorted the interim Afghan Taliban government in Kabul to crack down on terror groups who are using Afghan soil to launch attacks in neighbouring Pakistan.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Shehbaz spoke on several issues, including the war in Gaza, Kashmir, climate change, and Afghanistan.
Terrorism and Afghanistan
Recounting Pakistan's efforts to tackle terrorism for the past two decades "boldly and most successfully" and briefly "defeating" it, today Pakistan was once again confronting a new surge of "externally financed and sponsored terrorism, especially by the TTP/Fitna al-Khawarij and its associates."
He said Pakistan was determined to eliminate this threat through the comprehensive national effort of "Azm-e-Istehkam."
He also expressed Pakistan's resolve to promote stability and work collectively with the international community to combat terrorism and reform the global counter-terrorism architecture. But it expressed its disappointment with Kabul's failure to clamp down on terror groups acting on its soil.
"The Interim Government must take effective action to neutralise all terrorist groups within Afghanistan, especially those responsible for cross-border terrorism against neighbouring countries," he asserted, adding that the groups acting against foreign countries from Afghan soil include ISIL-K (Daesh), the Al-Qaeda-affiliated TTP/Fitna al-Khawarij and others such as the ETIM, IMU and Ansarullah.
"Pakistan seeks the earliest possible normalisation of the situation in Afghanistan," Shehbaz said, adding that Pakistan backed the UN's appeal for $3 billion in humanitarian assistance for the millions of suffering Afghans.
Kashmir and India's escalation
PM Shehbaz also raised the issue of Kashmir, noting that, like the people of Palestine, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have struggled for nearly a century for their freedom and right to self-determination.
"Instead of moving towards peace, India has resiled from commitments to implement the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. "These resolutions mandate a plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination."
He added that since August 5, 2019, India has initiated unilateral illegal steps to impose what its leaders ominously call a "Final Solution" for Jammu and Kashmir.
"Day in and day out, 900,000 Indian troops terrorise the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with draconian measures, including prolonged curfews, extra-judicial killings and the abduction of thousands of young Kashmiris."
He added that India was executing a classic settler-colonial project in Jammu and Kashmir by seizing Kashmiri lands and properties and settling outsiders into the occupied valleys to transform the Muslim majority into a minority.
Such hackneyed tactics, he said, are employed by all occupying powers, but they have always failed.
"In Jammu and Kashmir too it shall fail."
The Kashmiri people were resolute in rejecting the false Indian identity that New Delhi seeks to impose upon Kashmiris, he said, adding that India's policy of brutal coercion and oppression in occupied Kashmir has ensured that Burhan Wani's legacy continues to inspire the struggle and sacrifices of millions of Kashmiris.
Moreover, Shehbaz pointed to India's military escalation, which is sparking fears of a new arms race in the nuclear-armed region.
"Even more worryingly, India is engaged in a massive expansion of its military capabilities, which are essentially deployed against Pakistan," he said, adding, "Its war doctrines envisage a surprise attack and a 'limited war under the nuclear overhang'."
He lamented that India had thoughtlessly spurned Pakistan's proposals for a mutual "Strategic Restraint Regime."
Indian leadership, he said, has often threatened to cross the Line of Control and "take over" Azad Kashmir.
"Let me state in no uncertain terms that Pakistan will respond most decisively to any Indian aggression."
He asserted that to secure durable peace, India must reverse its unilateral and illegal measures taken since August 5, 2019, and enter into a dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Climate change
Recalling how Pakistan was ravaged by super floods two years ago, which caused damages worth $30 billion, PM Shehbaz said new climatic patterns have shown that there will be extreme heat every summer followed by heavy rainfall and other extreme climatic impacts even though Pakistan contributes less than one percent of global carbon emissions. It was thus unfair it would have to bear the damages.
"Pakistan looks forward to the fulfilment of commitments made by our development partners to support the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate goals, including a new annual goal beyond $100 billion in climate finance."
Gaza war
Shehbaz noted that there was a "chill of a new cold war" in the global power ecosystem and pointed to the conflicts ongoing in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and other places of the world.
However, the escalating conflict in the Middle East with the large-scale destruction of Gaza was particularly troubling.
"This is not just a conflict; this is the systematic slaughter of innocent people, an assault on the very essence of human life and dignity," he said, adding, "The blood of Gaza's children stains the hands of not just the oppressors, but also of those who are complicit in prolonging this cruel conflict."
"When we ignore their endless suffering, we diminish our own humanity," he said.
"It is not enough to condemn; we must act now and demand an immediate end to this bloodshed. We must remember that the blood and sacrifice of the innocent Palestinians will not go to waste."
He called for working for durable peace through the Two-State solution.
"We must seek a viable, secure, contiguous and sovereign State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its eternal capital. And to advance these goals, Palestine must also be immediately admitted as a full member of the United Nations," he asserted.
The failure to implement UN resolutions has emboldened Israel. It threatens to drag the entire Middle East into a war whose consequences could be grave and beyond imagination.