NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi supported her stance on the world stage in regards to Pakistan facing a terrorist threat “primarily supported and financed from outside its borders,” in accordance with a press release.
Pakistan “will be able to defeat these forces too,” she vowed while debating in the UN General Assembly on ‘Measures to Eliminat
e International Terrorism’ taking place in its Sixth Committee.
Lodhi said that as a result of its comprehensive and thorough efforts over the past several years the country has turned the tide against terrorism, supported by a remarkably firm domestic political consensus.
According to her, Pakistan has conducted the largest anti-terrorism operation anywhere in the World. “We have launched an across-the-board military campa
ign to destroy terrorist infrastructures and bases in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and our tribal areas,” she said.
She further added, “We also embarked on a law enforcement operation targeting those elements in ou
r urban areas that had fled our military operations in the tribal areas.”
The ambassador also claimed that the success of Pakistan’s two-pronged approach has resulted in the sharp reduction of terrorist activities across Pakistan over the past two years; the Global Terrorism index now records terrorism in the country at its lowest point since 2006.
“We have lost over 27,000 of our citi
zens and law enforcement personnel to this scourge and have also suffered economic losses of over US$120 billion”, Lodhi said.
These losses according to Lodhi have not diminished Pakistan’s commitment to fight this menace but “has only reinforced our will to fight until the last terrorist is eliminated from our soil.”
Lodhi called for cooperation between the international community to fight terrorism. “With Daesh becoming its new and even deadlier face, terrorism and violent extremism continue to be among the most complex and imposing challenges of our time”, she commented.
The Pakistani envoy also called for urgent and immediate attention to address festering disputes and unresolved conflicts, as well as unlawful use of force, foreign occupation, and denial of the self-right to determination. “We must also ensure that the measures we take to c
ounter terrorism remain within the framework of international law”, she commented.
Amongst other things, Lodhi welcomed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s reform of the UN’S CT architecture including the creation of the new Office of C
ounter Terrorism. She also received Vladimir Voronkov arrival as head of this new office with open arms and assured him of Pakistan’s support in the implementation of his mandate.
