Pakistan conditioned its relations with Afghanistan over taking actions against terroists

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council, Munir Akram has said that the continued presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan constituted the most significant threat to Afghanistan and to the entire region and perhaps the world.

Pakistan’s Ambassador conditioned any future engagement with the Afghan Taliban on the actions it will take against terrorist outfits.

Munir Akram asserted that 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.

The Ambassador in UNSC declared that 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.

At UNSC session Munir Akram stated : “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,”

On repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan, Akram said Pakistan paid an enormous price for its 40 years of generosity towards Afghanistan, adding Pakistan has legitimate security, economic and social concerns in relation to foreigners living illegally.

Pakistan has almost 3.7 million Afghans residing in the country. Around 1.3m Afghans are registered refugees and 880,000 more have legal status to remain in Pakistan, so far 456,590 Afghans refugees have returned to the country.