Pakistan To Continue Working With UN Against Terrorism, Extremism

Highlighting Pakistan's efforts at UN for countering terrorism and extremism, Former Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir Tuesday said Pakistan would continue working with the United Nations (UN) against terrorism and extremism.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Highlighting Pakistan's efforts at UN for countering terrorism and extremism, Former Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir Tuesday said Pakistan would continue working with the United Nations (UN) against terrorism and extremism.

He said this while speaking at a three-day seminar on the theme of "Pakistan's role in countering extremism and terrorism at regional and global level" arranged by Islamabad International Counter Terrorism Forum in collaboration with National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).

The former secretary said the UN enjoyed a pivotal position in the world community, adding that Pakistan, as a medium size country and member state of the organization, worked for over 70 years to abide and protect the international laws.

He said the world around was changed with rising of multiple actors creating rift and chaos terrorism and extremism. The focus of the world body was now changed to different regions in which Pakistan was also relevant, he added.

Salman Bashir said the agenda of violent extremism and terrorism had dominated the world in the last two decades. Thus new organs of the UN were introduced to cope with the issue of terrorism and violent extremism, he added.

He said Pakistan was doing much beyond against terrorism that a normal state could do against it. He said Pakistan was much ahead of the UN bodies in efforts of rooting out the causes of militancy and extremism.

Speaking on "The difficult decades: foreign policy choices and struggles through years of war and terrorism", Former Ambassador, Jalil Abbas Jilani said Pakistan had remained a part of almost all initiatives taken by the United States world over.

He said the 40 years of war in Afghanistan had very bad consequences for Pakistan. Jalil Abbas Jilani said the US policy for South Asia had been made partial due to Indian influence in the region which had created friction in Pak-US relations.

He said Indo-Afghanistan nexus, India-US policy and intensification of Indian propaganda and support of various terrorist groups in Balochistan and Afghanistan, had affected the overall situation of the region.

The former ambassador said Pakistan had taken a number of steps against terrorism while India supported the same elements in Indian occupied Kashmir. India had also stepped up terrorist activities in Pakistan, he added.

Former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said India and the United States had reservations over the growing relations between Pakistan and China. He, however, said the objective of the United States was not clear that what it wanted in Afghanistan.

Riaz Khokhar said Pakistan was being faced with both internal and external challenges, adding that vision of the leadership and collective efforts could steer the country out of the menace of terrorism and violent extremism.