United Nations Special Rapporteurs and independent experts, while releasing a report on the Pakistan–India conflict, expressed reservations over India’s unilateral actions, a violation of international laws.
The report stressed the need to punish those responsible for the Pahalgam attack and stated that India has been unable to provide credible evidence of Pakistan’s linkage with the attack.
The report states that the unilateral use of military force on the territory of a UN member state could create the risk of a major confrontation between two nuclear neighbors. India did not follow the mandatory provision of informing the Security Council about Operation Sindoor on 7 May. Pakistan’s right to self-defense was also acknowledged under the provision of UN Charter Article 51, and the unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty was also declared a clear violation of the treaty.
It is noteworthy that on the global and diplomatic horizon, Pakistan has already achieved prominent recognition due to the honing of its conventional and military diplomacy, which has enhanced Pakistan’s trajectory on the global stage. India ultimately faced embarrassment as a result of suffering a humiliating defeat in the Battle of Truth. To overcome this embarrassment, India has begun a process of launching a proxy war on Pakistan using Afghan soil and support from the Taliban regime. Due to India’s involvement, Pakistan is facing cross-border terrorism, and the reality of India sustaining terrorism through Afghanistan is now amply exposed at the international level.
Earlier, another report submitted to the United Nations Security Council stated that the Afghan Taliban’s claims of not allowing their territory to be used for terrorism are not credible. This analysis is included in the 16th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which was submitted to the Security Council for debate.
Five years ago, on 29 February 2020, in the Doha Peace Agreement with the United States, subsequently endorsed by the Security Council, the Taliban pledged that they would not allow Afghanistan to become a threat to other countries, but after coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban’s attitude changed. The report stated that some senior Taliban members consider the TTP a burden causing damage to relations with Pakistan, while majority of them support it. Even if the Taliban want to restrain the TTP, they may not have that capacity, but the Taliban regime has continued to avoid admitting this, despite the fact that mediators and Pakistan had indicated assistance in such a situation. The report accepted Pakistan’s position that the TTP carried out several major attacks in Pakistan using Afghan territory, which strained relations between the two countries.
A few days ago, Pakistan informed the United Nations Security Council that terrorism emanating from Afghan territory is the biggest and most serious threat to Pakistan. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Asim Iftikhar said that Afghanistan is backing terrorist groups and that Afghan territory has once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups and proxies, the devastating consequences of which are currently being borne by Pakistan; however, going forward, this could not only destabilize regional security but also pose the likelihood of this scourge spreading to other parts of the world. The Taliban government has provided safe havens to various groups including ISIS-Khorasan, Al-Qaeda, TTP, BLA, and the Majeed Brigade, dozens of whose camps are assisting cross-border attacks.
Not only this, but so far, almost at 10 different occasions, the international community has warned the Afghan Taliban that eliminating terrorism is essential, and if they cannot eliminate terrorism themselves, they can seek help from other countries; however, the Taliban have not acknowledged the existence of terrorist groups on even a single occasion.
For example, recently China, Russia, Pakistan, and other countries expressed concern over possible terrorism threats from Afghanistan. China, Russia, Pakistan, and other countries participated in an extraordinary meeting in Tehran on the situation in Afghanistan; however, Afghanistan decided not to participate in this meeting. Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Muhammad Sadiq, said that Afghanistan’s neighbors can only place trust in an Afghanistan that does not provide shelter to terrorists.
In the report submitted to the United Nations Security Council, the names of terrorist groups have been clearly identified and it is also reported, from other sources, that 27,000 terrorists have also arrived in Afghanistan from Syria.
As a result of this situation, Pakistan as well as other countries of the region are also concerned, while due to the Afghan Taliban’s continued obstinacy, the regional security situation is becoming more fragile with each passing day. If the Taliban government persists with this approach of governance, it is likely that a multilateral attack could be carried out to eliminate terrorists; however, as a result of such possible action by other countries, the Afghan people would face heavy suffering, and in such a situation there is concern that Pakistan would have to face the migration of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees along with increasing terrorism and crime besides other factors. It is necessary that the Afghan Taliban regime come to realize the gravity, thus should ensure the elimination of terrorism in accordance with their obligations.
The biggest question is how Afghanistan will control this terrorism. The answer could be straightforward: if the Taliban government, hypothetically, becomes ready to control terrorism, then Pakistan, China, Turkey, Qatar, and Russia, along with countries of the region and beyond, are also ready to assist them. If the Taliban government stops patronizing terrorist groups, a very large storm looming over the region will be averted.
Despite the fact that Pakistan is bearing the brunt of terrorism from Afghanistan and its patience is reaching its limit, it is still necessary that a strategy be formulated in which the resolution of this dispute does not reach the point of using force, and if, it does, then it will be extremely necessary to move forward with the international community. Otherwise, Pakistan will have to bear its effects economically, politically, socially, and societally.
