NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi on Friday told the world body that Pakistan faces a terrorist threat “primarily supported and financed from outside its borders”.
Pakistan “will be able to defeat these forces too”, she vowed, while speaking during the UN General Assembly’s debate on ‘Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism’ which took place in its Sixth Committee.
Maleeha said that the country had turned the tide against terrorism as a result of its comprehensive efforts over the past several years, supported by a firm domestic political consensus. “Pakistan has conducted the largest anti-terrorism operation anywhere in the world,” she said. “We have launched an across-the-board military campaign to destroy terrorist infrastructures and bases in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and our tribal areas.”
She said that Pakistan would also embarked on a law enforcement operation targeting those in the urban areas who had fled the military operations in the tribal areas.
The ambassador said that the success of Pakistan’s two-pronged approached had resulted in a sharp reduction of terrorist activities across Pakistan over the past two years. According to the Global Terrorism Index, terrorism in Pakistan is now at its lowest point since 2006.
“We have lost over 27,000 of our citizens and law enforcement personnel to this scourge and have also suffered economic losses of over $120 billion,” she said.
Expressing Pakistan’s firm resolve to continue its fight against terrorism, Maleeha Lodhi said that these human and financial losses had not diminished Pakistan’s commitment to fight this menace. “It has only reinforced our will to fight until the last terrorist is eliminated from our soil,” she stressed.
Reiterating Pakistan’s unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, the Pakistani envoy said that there could be no justification for the killing of innocent people anywhere, regardless of the cause or pretext. She called for cooperation among the international community to fight terrorism, as it was a collective challenge that had claimed innocent lives, caused widespread destruction, undermined social stability and disrupted state structures. “With Daesh becoming its new and even deadlier face, terrorism and violent extremism continue to be among the most complex and imposing challenges of our time,” she commented.
The envoy called for urgent and focused attention to address “festering disputes”, unresolved conflicts, unlawful use of force, aggression, foreign occupation and denial of the right to self-determination.
Political and economic injustice, she pointed out, fuels animosities, breeds hostility and often leads to violent reactions. “We must also ensure that the measures we take to counter terrorism remain within the framework of international law,” she said.
She also called for addressing the issue of defamation of religions and demonisation of communities in the upcoming review of the UN’s Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, as they incited hatred and could lead to violent reactions.
Lodhi welcomed Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s reform of the UN ‘s CT architecture, including the creation of the new Office of Counter Terrorism. She also welcomed Vladimir Voronkov as head of this new office and assured him of Pakistan’s support in implementation of his mandate.
Published in Daily Times, October 7th 2017.
