UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has condemned the recent US drone strike inside the country, terming it an unacceptable and blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty as well as the UN charter and international law.

Speaking at a quarterly debate on Afghanistan in the Security Council on Wednesday, Pakistan’s Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi sharply responded to the allegations made by the Afghan representative, dismissing them as “unjustified, untrue and gratuitous”.

In fact, she pointed out, the international community was well aware of and acknowledged Pakistan’s contribution and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.

While expressing Pakistan’s readiness to support a genuine Afghan peace process, Ms Lodhi warned that her country would not tolerate violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, “from whatever source”.

She asked whether the international community wanted a negotiated peace or a military solution in Afghanistan and warned that those seeking a renewed recourse to a military solution needed to think through the consequences of their posture.

Referring to the secretary general’s report on Afghanistan, Ms Lodhi said this reinforced the firm international consensus that Afghans would achieve sustainable peace only through a negotiated political agreement. “This is precisely what Pakistan has long proposed as the only course to end the decades of war and suffering in Afghanistan,” she added.

Based on this belief and in response to repeated requests from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, she said, Pakistan had agreed to facilitate the first-ever direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Murree in June last year.

Describing the talks as a ‘promising start’, Mr Lodhi regretted that days before the second round, in which the two sides were to also consider a de-escalation of violence, the talks were scuttled by developments that were well known to all.

The ambassador also referred to concerted efforts that led to the establishment of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) by which Afghanistan, the United States, China and Pakistan undertook to join together to provide a decisive impetus to Afghan peace efforts. The process, welcomed by the international community, was destroyed by the May 21 US drone attack that killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, she regretted.

“This unacceptable action has dealt a blow to the Afghan peace process and added to the intensity and complexity of the Afghan conflict,” she said.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016