India and the United States cornered Pakistan on the issue of terrorism at the United Nations Security Council Ministerial debate on Afghanistan. During the debate India's ambassador to United Nations Syed Akbaruddin took on Pakistan for providing safe havens to terrorists and accused Islamabad of differentiating between good and bad terrorists. The US said that any efforts in Afghanistan cannot be successful if a status quo in Pakistan, where terrorist organisations are given sanctuary inside the country's borders, is allowed to continue.
He said that it is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remains committed to work closely, with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.
"It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in lahore, Pakistan. Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he said.
"These mindsets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets need to change," Akbaruddin said.
He further said that many of the countries that are engaged in development and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan are acutely aware of the disproportionate amount of resources that are diverted to protecting the projects and infrastructure which is created, rather than building more projects in the country.
"While we commonly see attacks on dams, schools, parliament buildings and electric power centers, what is most debilitating for the development of the country are the attacks on its people. The attacks on the young in Afghan schools, women in Afghan hospitals and the hopeful in Afghan mosques are all a stark reminder of how the very spirit of Afghanistan's future is being systematically threatened and scarred by those who believe that violence is the only way to achieve their goals," he said.
Akabaruddin quoted an Afghna saying that roughly translates: "If water is muddied downstream, don't waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it," while adding that support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough and the countries "must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan," Syed Akbaruddin told the UN Security Council.
In response to India, Pakistan's representative at the UN Maleeha lodhi said raked up the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was captured by Pak in March last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.
"Those who talk of changing mindset need to look within, at their own record of subversion against my country as our capture of an Indian spy has proven beyond doubt," lodhi said without naming Jadhav.
The United States Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan too pressurized Pakistan to eliminate the terror sanctuaries from its territory.
"We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot be successful if the status quo, one where terrorist organizations are given sanctuary inside the country's borders, is allowed to continue. Stability and prosperity in Afghanistan will benefit Pakistan as well, since it will enable a return of refugees and remove the ability of ISIS and other terror groups to operate against Pakistan from outside the country. This is why Pakistan should join our efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict, also as spelled out in our South Asia strategy," Sullivan said.