'Closest Neighbour': Pak Responds After Not Being Invited To UNSC Meet On Afghanistan Situation Lead By India

The UN Security Council, with India as currently the President of the body, met on Friday to discuss the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan following multiple blasts in Kabul.

Pak PM Imran Khan

Islamabad: Pakistan has strongly criticised India for denying Pakistan the opportunity to address the 15-member Security Council body at the United Nations on the situation of Afghanistan despite being the "closest neighbour" of the conflict-ridden country.

The UN Security Council, with India as currently the President of the body, met on Friday to discuss the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan following multiple blasts in Kabul. The UNSC concluded the session with a joint call demanding accountability from those responsible for emboldening extremists in the country.

Hours after the UN Security Council meeting, Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, expressed regrets and slammed India for not accepting its repeated request for participation in the session in order to present its perspective on the Afghan situation.

Issuing a strong statement, the Pak official said, "It is a matter of deep regret that, as the closest neighbour of Afghanistan, whose contribution in the ongoing peace process has been recognised by the international community, Pakistan’s request to the President of the Security Council to address the Council’s session and present its perspective on the Afghan peace process and the way forward was not acceded to."

The Pakistani envoy said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had consistently called for a political solution as the only way to restore durable peace and security in Afghanistan.

Ambassador Akram also strongly deplored allegations made by the Afghan and Indian diplomats that terrorists use Pakistan’s territory as a safe haven. The official pointed at the remarks made by Afghanistan’s representative and accused the envoy of spreading disinformation and levelling baseless allegations against Pakistan with a view to mislead the international community.

This came after Afghanistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Ghulam Isaczai during the UNSC discussion accused Pakistan of providing safe haven and logistical support to the Taliban.

Peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators started last year in the Qatari capital of Doha, but have not made any substantive progress. Recently, the peace situation across various cities and towns of Afghanistan has gone for toss after the Taliban and their affiliated groups launched more than 5,000 attacks in 31 of the 34 provinces.