UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for complete Afghan ownership in security, governance and development, including the disbursal of international aid, in an effort to facilitate long-term peace, stability and progress in the troubled country.

"We do not want Afghanistan to become a theatre of proxy wars or descend into chaos and instability", Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, the Pakistan permanent representative to UN, told the Security Council on Thursday. Speaking in a debate on situation in Afghanistan, he said Pakistan advocated a comprehensive vision for meeting the challenges in Afghanistan, with security being only one facet of a myriad of challenges.

For its part, Pakistan was extending the fullest security and intelligence cooperation to Afghanistan, with the number of its military and paramilitary personnel deployed along the border greater than all international troops in the country. Ambassador Haroon supported an Afghan-led and inclusive reconciliation process, with a view to bringing the opposition groups into the political mainstream. Ending the violence required an attempt to understand all the parties, he said. In that context, he supported the visit of the Chairman of the High Peace Council to Pakistan and the recent meeting of the International Contact Group in Jeddah, as well as the High Peace Council's interaction with the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The Security Council, he emphasized, should be a willing partner of the Afghan people in the important and delicate reconciliation process. He added that the quest for peace and stability in Afghanistan was dovetailing into a long-term cooperative partnership.       He reiterated support for the objectives and efforts of UNAMA, as well as for its mandate extension.