Pakistan has underscored the need for resolution of the lingering Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, while expressing its deep concern over the recent ceasefire violations at the Line of Control and the Working Boundary by the Indian security forces.
"Longstanding, festering issues cannot be swept under the carpet," Ambassador Masood Khan, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN, told the General Assembly on Tuesday while participating in a debate on the UN Secretary-General's report on the work of the organisation.
The envoy told the 193-member UN General Assembly that four innocent lives were lost as a result of the Indian firing on the occasion of Eidul Azha. "We call upon the Indian government to immediately cease fire and help us preserve tranquility," he said, adding that UNMOGIP, the world body's observer force in the disputed region, must be enabled to play its role in monitoring the ceasefire.
Pakistan, he said, was pursuing a policy of constructive engagement to resolve differences and to enhance economic opportunities for the region. In this context, he reminded the audience of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's speech in the UN General Assembly in September that the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir had to be resolved though negotiations in accordance with the wishes of its people. In this regard, the Pakistani leader reminded the United Nations of its own responsibility. Speaking in exercise of the right of reply, India's representative Devesh Uttam accused Pakistan of violating the ceasefire, which he claimed had resulted in six people being killed.
Reacting to the Indian representative's statement, Nabeel Munir, Minister at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, said that for days, Indian security forces had been shelling across the Line of Control. Monday had been the Muslim holiday of Eidul Azha, yet still Indian forces had played havoc, he said. It was saddening that the Indian government had not been able to restrain its forces, the Pakistani delegate said, calling upon the Indian government to cease fire. The Government of Pakistan had exercised restraint and extended a hand to India, and this unprovoked firing was a cause of deep concern, he said. Munir hoped that the Indian side would give peace a chance. Speaking on other subjects in the course of the debate on the Secretary-General's report, Ambassador Masood khan welcomed the formation of new government in Afghanistan. "Pakistan will steadfastly work with Afghanistan to fight terrorism and to create new opportunities for collaboration in the industrial, trade, infrastructure, and energy sectors," he added.
Pakistan, he said, was determined to eliminate the terrorist threat from its soil. "Our heroic armed forces are taking out terrorists, dismantling their hideouts and networks, and choking the vicious sources that feed them. "Our entire nation stands united to defeat this evil force and its ideology of hate." On the UN reform, Pakistan reiterated its stand that it should be comprehensive and that the Security Council should reflect the interests of all member states - small, medium-sized and large - and not the ambitions of a few.
He also reaffirmed Pakistan's support to the efforts of the international community to oppose the reign of terror unleashed by the ISIS, a phenomenon that does not have sanction of any religion or denomination and stressed the need to steer warring forces in Syria towards dialogue and reconciliation. The Pakistani envoy called on the Quartet to revive the stalled Israel and Palestine peace talks to free Palestinian prisoners, lift Israel's unlawful and illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip of Palestine, and reach agreement on Palestine's fully sovereign statehood.
Ambassador Khan assured that Pakistan, as a top troop contributor to the UN, would continue to put its peacekeepers at the disposal of the UN. Only recently, he said, Pakistan had deployed more than 1,100 troops to the Central African Republic to help stabilise the situation there.
The envoy said along with Denmark and Norway, Pakistan would continue to steer and support the efforts of the Group of Friends of Sustainable Energy for All to promote universal access, to improve energy efficiency and to increase the ratio of alternate energy.
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