WASHINGTON Jan 20 (TNS): The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has called for regional cooperation and shared responsibility to stem violent extremism in Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting on building regional partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia in New York, he said countering extremism cannot be the responsibility of one country alone.
The world body chief said regional cooperation offers opportunities to address common concerns, including counter-terrorist financing, improving border security, fostering dialogue and countering human trafficking and drug smuggling.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative’s to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi while addressing the UN Security meeting said Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US need to address challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shifting the onus for ending the conflict onto others.
She said that after 17 years of war it’s more than evident that neither the Afghan government nor the Taliban can win militarily.
Maleeha Lodhi said that use of military force and escalation of the conflict without an accompanying political and diplomatic strategy will produce more violence.
