I am honoured to return to
this chamber of hope, peace and cooperation. I wish to
convey the warm greetings of the people of Pakistan.
We are delighted to see you, Mr. President, presiding
over the General Assembly. The high ideals of the
United Nations have inspired our vision of a global
society that is based on peace and justice, freedom and
human rights, equality and equal opportunity, freedom
from want and hunger, tolerance and harmony — a
global society that believes in the sovereign equality of
nations large and small, and that promotes truth and
reconciliation.
On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I assure you,
Mr. President, of our cooperation in fashioning a safer
and better world in which all children — yours and
mine — shall live in peace and harmony. This is a
world in which we shall all depend on one another. It
demands a return to the path of the United Nations. It
calls for reforming the United Nations on the principles
of equality and consensus building.
In Pakistan, the will of the people has prevailed.
Our people have witnessed a profound democratic
transformation. We have entered a new era of
democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Democracy in Pakistan is of great importance not only
to our country, but also to our region and the world.
Pakistan has struggled hard for democracy. My late
wife, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, led the fight
for democracy and laid down her life for it. Following
in the footsteps of her great father, Shaheed Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto, she made the ultimate sacrifice so that our
nation might live in democracy. We are now following
in her footsteps. I, my party, my people and Pakistan’s
democracy are grateful to the international community
and to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for constituting
an international commission of investigation into her
assassination. We are confident that the commission
will bring out all the dimensions of her life, work and
tragic assassination.
The world supports our struggle for democracy,
and we are grateful for that support. Democracy in
Pakistan is beginning to achieve successes in the fight
against militancy. The real challenge now is to make
democracy sustainable, and indeed irreversible. This
requires that democracy should be able to deliver. It
should meet the aspirations of our people to progress
and prosperity. It must give our people peace and
stability.
Unfortunately, our neighbourhood has witnessed
decades of conflict. Pakistan has suffered greatly from
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terrorism and religious extremism. Terrorism and
extremism were not previously known to our society
and culture. Religious extremism entered our society
and the region when we all in the free world decided to
confront a rival ideology. The policy was based on the
exploitation of religion to motivate Muslims around the
world to wage jihad. It was a policy whereby jihadi
leaders were referred to as the moral equivalents of
George Washington. It was a policy that allowed
warlords and criminals to destroy civilizations to come.
The virus multiplied and has affected the world.
To eliminate militancy we must strike at its roots.
Surgery alone will not be enough. We need to address
the causes of deprivation, poverty and illiteracy. We
need to adopt dialogue, development and a wise use of
force as our strategy.
Pakistan has firmly responded to the challenges
of extremism and militancy. Democracy has given our
people ownership of the fight against terrorism. Today,
our nation stands fully united in this struggle. Our law
enforcement agencies have, within a short span of
time, cleared a large area in Malakand of militants. Of
the more than 2.5 million civilians who were forced to
leave their homes, about 2 million were hosted by their
relatives and friends. I salute the host families.
Democracy and political ownership of the war have
proved to be the chief weapons in the fight against
militancy. In the short span of 10 weeks, most of the
internally dislocated have returned to their homes. We
are now engaged in rebuilding their lives.
Pakistan appreciates the international community’s
support and understanding of our efforts. We urge the
international community to further reinforce this
support. We are determined to eliminate terrorism and
extremism from our territory. To that end, the early
return of peace and stability in Afghanistan is critical.
The flow of weapons across the region must stop. The
funding and support to militants by drug barons and
other elements must stop.
We also believe that regional cooperation against
terrorism and extremism holds great promise. We
emphasize regional efforts for peace and stability.
Pakistan will continue to work with Afghanistan and
the international community for the early restoration of
peace and stability in that country. Pakistan has hosted
almost 3 million Afghan refugees for the past three
decades. We have been providing for them on our own.
We call upon the world to help in the safe return of the
refugees to their homes.
Pakistan’s democracy has begun to deliver. We
are doing more in self-interest. We urge the world’s
democracies to do more for the peace and development
of the people affected by militancy and terror. We need
to create economic opportunities for our people. We
urge our friends and partners to help Pakistan by
providing market access for the economic revival and
well-being of their own people.
Pakistan desires friendly relations with India. We
believe that dialogue is the only way forward. The
absence of dialogue leads to tensions that must be
avoided. We look forward to the resumption of the
composite dialogue process. We seek a peaceful
resolution of all outstanding issues with India.
Meaningful progress towards a resolution of the
Kashmir dispute is necessary for durable peace and
stability in South Asia.
Pakistan also supports the rights of the
Palestinian people as guaranteed in several United
Nations resolutions. Durable peace in the Middle East
requires that the issue of Palestine be addressed
meaningfully.
We also call for the immediate release of Aung
San Suu Kyi.
All nations seek security. Peace and security are
closely linked. Equal security for all is important. We
support all efforts for arms control, disarmament and
non-proliferation. The principle of equal security is of
fundamental importance for achieving those objectives.
Imbalances in security, especially at the regional level,
need to be redressed. Pakistan will continue to play a
constructive role in promoting conflict resolution and
restraint in South Asia and in promoting initiatives on
nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation on the basis
of non-discrimination.
Pakistan’s priority is economic development. We
wish to build on our internal strengths. In this effort we
seek partnerships. We seek to develop a win-win
situation. We are engaged in economic revival by
developing our agriculture, building mega-hydro
projects, initiating water conservation projects,
undertaking infrastructure projects, promoting regional
trade and cooperation and encouraging, beyond
Government, the corporate sector in development. We
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need to develop a framework for cooperation that will
deliver quickly.
In overcoming the challenges faced by the world,
the United Nations has a central role to play. Guided by
its principles and the high ideals in its Charter, the
United Nations is destined to succeed. A democratic
Pakistan will continue to uphold the ideals and values
of the United Nations. Together we shall succeed. In
the words of my leader and martyred wife Shaheed
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, “time, justice and the forces
of history are on our side”.