NEW YORK: Pakistan on Wednesday said at the United Nations that the US drone strike had disrupted the Afghan peace process and further complicated the situation in the region.
Radio Pakistan reported that Pakistan’s permanent Ambassador at the international body Maleeha Lodhi, told the UN Security Council that US drone attack that killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour on the Pakistani territory was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. She added, “It is also a blatant breach of the principles of the UN Charter and international law”.
Talking on Afghanistan situation, Ambassador Lodhi said that the US attack had raised serious questions about whether the international community was ready to invest in war instead of peace in Afghanistan. She said that the use of force over the last 15 years had not led to peace and advised against the continuation of such strategy.
At the outset, Ambassador Lodhi took exception to remarks by Afghanistan’s UN Ambassador Mahmoud Saikal accusing Pakistan of interference in his country’s internal affairs and allowing anti-Afghan terrorist groups to operate from safe havens inside the Pakistani territory.
She said that the comments of Afghan representative were untrue, unjustified and gratuitous on Pakistani institutions. Ambassador Lodhi went on to ask the Government of Afghanistan not to externalize its internal problems and blame others for its own failures.
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