18/09/2025
*Statement by Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed,*
*Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN,*
*At the Meeting of the UN Security Council on the Situation in Afghanistan*
*(17th September 2025)*
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Mr. President,
1. It is a pleasure to see you preside over the Council. We commend the Korean delegation for its skillful leadership of the Council this month.
2. We take note of the Secretary-General’s report and thank SRSG Roza Otunbayeva for her comprehensive briefing. We value UNAMA’s efforts to promote normalization in Afghanistan under very difficult circumstances.
3. We also listened to the statement by Ms. Hanifa Girowal and we agree that without doubt, equal participation of women is essential for national development and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
4. Let me also express Pakistan’s deepest condolences to the people of Afghanistan for last month’s devastating earthquake in the east, which claimed over 1,400 lives and injured thousands. Pakistan has provided 105 tons of humanitarian assistance to help the families affected by this tragedy.
5. The Taliban have now been in power for more than four years. While civil war has ended for the first time in four decades, Afghanistan’s situation remains deeply worrying.
6 Sanctions, a collapsed banking system, inadequate humanitarian aid, poverty, terrorism, narcotics, and human rights concerns continue to define Afghanistan’s landscape. These challenges stem not only from Taliban policies and the country’s turbulent history but also from shifting global priorities, lack of unity and slow response of the international community.
7. The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2025 for example has received only 27% of the required $2.42 billion. The international community must close this gap and ease the suffering of ordinary Afghans caught in a political impasse and divergent policies.
8. It is important to ensure that the Taliban sanctions regime does not fall prey to political considerations of Council members. Travel ban exemption requests remain crucial for meaningful engagement and must be examined in an objective manner, consistent with the objectives of this Council, and sensitive to the genuine concerns of Afghanistan’s immediate neighbors.
9. Stabilizing Afghanistan’s economy, reviving its banking system, and creating realistic pathways for unfreezing its financial assets are essential. Preventing poppy cultivation also remains important supported by UN-led initiatives promoting alternative livelihoods.
10. Despite security concerns, Pakistan has engaged the Afghan Interim Government at high level to enhance cooperation, security, trade, counter-narcotics efforts, and regional connectivity initiatives such as the Trans-Afghan Railway project. We support the various regional forums to foster engagement. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar visited Kabul and participated in successful trilateral dialogues at Foreign Ministers level with Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and China. Likewise, we had the Quadrilateral meeting of Special Representatives for Afghanistan from Pakistan, China, Iran and Russia in Dushanbe, where we agreed on result-oriented engagement with the Afghan interim authorities.
Mr. President,
11. Pakistan has consistently advocated sustained engagement with Afghanistan and was among the first to propose a roadmap for normalization. We look forward to the next steps of the UN-led Doha Process and plan of action for its Mosaic approach, which must address Afghanistan’s multifaceted challenges in a balanced and comprehensive manner (as was also recommended by the independent assessment report).
Mr. President,
12. For over four decades, Pakistan welcomed with open arms, millions of Afghan refugees despite our limitations and inadequate international assistance. No country has singlehandedly demonstrated that level of commitment in hosting refugees in such large numbers and for such long durations, other than Pakistan. It was understood that these were not indefinite stays. Besides, Pakistan has had to cope with huge numbers and case-loads of illegal foreigners including Afghans, without legal status or documents, which also poses a serious security threat to Pakistan.
13. With conflict now having ended, many Afghans have been repatriated in a dignified, phased and orderly manner. Pakistan has also instituted a liberal visa regime that enables large number of Afghans to be in Pakistan, legally, for various purposes including family links, education, medical and business. While we will continue to extend all possible assistance to our Afghan brothers and sisters, the international community must shoulder its responsibility and take the necessary steps to ameliorate the conditions and share this burden more equitably. International partners must fulfill their obligations also with regard to their commitments – that are in fact long delayed and unkept – including for third country resettlements.
Mr. President,
14. The Taliban authorities must also fulfill their international obligations on counter terrorism. Terrorism emanating from Afghanistan remains the gravest threat to Pakistan’s national security. Terrorist entities including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, TTP, ETIM, BLA and the Majeed Brigade operate from Afghan sanctuaries, with more than 60 such terrorist camps serving as hubs for enabling cross-border infiltration and attacks.
15. We have credible evidence of collaboration among these terrorist groups through joint training, illicit weapons trade, refuge to terrorists, and coordinated attacks - all aimed at targeting civilian and law enforcement agencies and disrupting and sabotaging infrastructure and development projects in Pakistan.
16. We also need to zoom-in on the interlinkages playing out on the digital landscape. Their propaganda networks - nearly 70 social media accounts traced to Afghan IP addresses - must also be curbed - and that requires full support and cooperation from social media platform providers with the governments.
Mr. President,
17. Pakistan and China have jointly submitted to the 1267 Sanctions Committee a request to designate the BLA and Majeed Brigade. We hope the Council will act swiftly on this listing to curb their terrorist activities.
18. The TTP, with nearly 6,000 fighters, remains the largest UN-designated terrorist group on Afghan soil. Pakistan has successfully thwarted multiple infiltration attempts of TTP and BLA terrorists from across Afghanistan, confiscating significant caches of sophisticated military grade modern equipment left behind by international forces in Afghanistan. These efforts come at a heavy price - huge sacrifices by our valiant security forces and civilians. Just this month, 12 Pakistani soldiers were martyred in a single incident while defending the borders. This situation is intolerable.
19. UNAMA must strengthen efforts, as mandated, to prevent the illicit trade and destabilizing accumulation of small arms and light weapons and their diversion in Afghanistan and the region.
Mr. President,
20. The Taliban must also meet their other international obligations. Continued restrictions on women and girls are inconsistent with Islamic traditions and norms of Muslim society.
21. Pakistan supports international engagement with Afghanistan, one that has clear objectives, with reciprocal steps and a realistic roadmap, guided by dialogue and diplomacy for that is the only viable pathway to lasting peace in Afghanistan. Isolation and disengagement serves no one’s interest.
22. As immediate neighbors bound by geography, culture, and history, no country desires peace and stability in Afghanistan more than Pakistan. And no country has suffered from the consequences of decades of conflict in Afghanistan, more than Pakistan. We therefore remain committed to supporting a peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan - for the sake of our region and in the best interest of the world.
I thank you.
