Afghan, Pakistan envoys clash at UNSC meet
June 21, 2013 11:34
Top diplomats from Afghanistan and Pakistan engaged in verbal sparring during a discussion on cross-border terrorism and presence of terrorist safe havens, at the United Nations Security Council.
"The fact remains: so long as terrorist sanctuaries continue to exist in Pakistan's soil and some elements continue to use terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy, peace will not prevail, neither in Afghanistan, nor in the region," Afghan Ambassador to the UN, Zahir Tanin, told the 15-member body during a special Security Council discussion on Afghanistan, on Thursday.
"We also are very concerned with ongoing border shelling; this constitutes a serious threat to Afghan sovereignty and the prospect of friendly relations between our two countries," Tanin said referring to the recent exchange of fire across the Af-Pak border.
Pakistani Ambassador to the UN, Masood Khan, later was sharper in his response.
"I reject most emphatically Ambassador Tanin's argument -- root, trunk and branch -- that terrorist sanctuaries exist in Pakistan and some elements continue to use terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy," Khan said.
"No, sir, this is not true; and you know this is not true. And this is not good diplomacy. By using such arguments, you cast aspersions on our sincerity," he said
"In Pakistan, we do not operate as elements, but as a whole, as one state. All institutions of the state have consensus that terrorism is a threat to both Pakistan and Afghanistan and therefore both countries should work together to eliminate this scourge," Khan said.
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