The international community should focus on dealing with the root causes of terrorism, Pakistan said Wednesday after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres unveiled a suggestion in the General Assembly to create a new, independent U.N. counterterrorism office.
The countetrrorism office will lead the world body’s efforts to combat the hydra-headed monster.
“Without addressing the underlying and root causes of terrorism, we will only be fighting its symptoms,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said.
Speaking at an informal meeting of the 193-member Assembly on Wednesday, Lodhi said:
“We have always advocated that protracted unresolved conflicts, unlawful use of force, aggression, foreign occupation, denial of the right to self-determination and political and economic injustice, as well as political marginalization and alienation contribute to the spread of terrorism,” the Pakistani envoy said, while stressing that terrorism should not be delinked from its political context.
The Pakistani delegation, she said, would consider with an “open mind” all viable options for putting in place the new counterterrorism architecture with a view to agreeing on the best solution. Pakistan would work with the U.N. and all member states to improve coherence and cooperation of the organizational set up on counterterrorism, she said.
Opening the meeting, the UN Chief said the office would be headed by a new under-secretary-general, a senior position in the U.N. system, and it would include teams working on counter-terrorism within the UN Secretariat.
The office would be mandated to implement the 2006 UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy and to better assisting member states in counter-terrorism capacity building, Guterres said.
“Our aim is to build a new partnership with member states on countering the transnational threat of terrorism which needs to be addressed urgently,” he said. “Any activities of the new office would be in support of and upon the request of member states,” he added.
Analysts have long argued that military actions alone cannot contain terrorism and political solutions to disputes like Kashmir and Palestine would greatly diminish the appeal of militancy. Experts also say creating conditions like jobs and democracy would also help defeat militant mindset.
Reiterating Islamabad’s commitment to fight terror in her remarks, Ambassador Lodhi spoke of Pakistan’s resilience in combating terrorism, saying it was the principle victim of the menace.
“But this has only strengthened our resolve to continue our campaign until the last terrorist is eliminated from our country – a campaign that has entered a more intense phase as I speak.”
“As we deliberate on reforming the counterterrorism architecture, we also have to take into account initiatives being taken in the wider reform of the peace and security architecture,” she stressed while making a case for maintaining links between any new Office on Counterterrorism and the Department of Political Affairs”
The Pakistani diplomat asserted that the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy remains the sole responsibility of member states to implement it. Ambassador Lodhi added the new move should therefore focus on how best the UN system can meet the technical requirements, when requested by member states.
“In this regard, we believe that the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of any Member States remains fundamental, indeed sacrosanct.”
FEATURED IMAGE above is UN Security Council, Photo by Neptuul via Wikimedia Common
