President Pervez Musharraf has reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment not to allow Pakistani soil to be used by anyone to disrupt the Afghan election process.
Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations Munir Akram said this in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
He said Afghanistan would have presidential elections on October 9 - a landmark in the country's progress towards democracy and stability.
Munir Akram said that the UN, the coalition and the international partners must focus on creating sustainable peace through enhanced ISAF presence, acceleration of DDR, strengthening of Afghan security capacity, addressing factional fighting and tackling of the menace of narcotics.
He said Pakistan agreed with the UN Secretary General that the engagement of the international community remained a critical factor in keeping the peace and promoting the Bonn process.
The Pakistan envoy was delivering a statement in the General Assembly on the Secretary General's report on the work of the organisation.
In South Asia, Munir Akram said, the Secretary General had taken note of "important strides" by Pakistan and India in efforts to improve their relations and resolve outstanding issues.
The composite dialogue was continuing, focusing on all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
"The aspirations of the two peoples for social and economic progress cannot be achieved in the absence of peace. Therefore, Pakistan has entered this dialogue with complete sincerity. We believe the dual channels of the confidence-building measures (CBMs) and the dialogue process must move in tandem," he said.
He said the solution of Kashmir could not be inordinately delayed as President Musharraf stressed from that rostrum: "We desire a resolution of Kashmir, which is just and acceptable to Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir."
Ambassador Munir Akram said that President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met for the first time in New York on September 24. Both the leaders, in a joint statement, reiterated their commitment to continue the bilateral dialogue to restore normalcy and co-operation between Pakistan and India.
He said: "On Jammu and Kashmir, they agreed that possible options for a peaceful negotiated settlement of the issue should be explored in a sincere spirit and purposeful manner."
In the coming months, the two countries would be working to realise this vision, he said, adding: "We thank the Secretary General for his encouragement of these endeavours and welcome his reiteration of the UN's readiness to assist this process in any way deemed necessary."
Munir Akram said speaking in the General Debate on Sep 22, President Pervez Musharraf emphasised that the time had come for closing fronts through peace, reconciliation and reform.
Pakistan appreciated the efforts extended by the UN and the Secretary General in the pursuit of international peace and security through peace making, peacekeeping and peace building.
For the long-term, Pakistan was convinced that "sustainable peace" could only be assured by adopting a comprehensive conflict prevention strategy, addressing the root causes of conflict, strengthening long-term capacities for the peaceful settlement of disputes, and recognising the inextricable link between peace and development, he added.
He said: "The Secretary-General correctly emphasises the need for broad-based international co-operation to counter the terrorism threat. Pakistan has remained in the vanguard of global effort to fight this scourge," he said.
Munir Akram said Pakistan noted the concerns raised by the Secretary-General in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation and the threat of terrorism, particularly his apprehension that such developments might increase the risk of new instances of unilateral or pre-emptive use of force.
He said Pakistan believed it would be a grave historical error to opt for strategies of intervention and pre-emption to counter terrorism, prevent weapons for mass destruction (WMD) proliferation or impose order in imploding States.