UNITED NATIONS, July 2 (UPI) -- The international community must stay involved in Afghanistan but avoid meddling in its internal affairs, the Pakistani envoy to the United Nations said.
Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon told the U.N. Security Council that the development of a stable Afghanistan depended on an effective government in Kabul, the Associated Press of Pakistan reports.
The envoy praised a June peace jirga in Kabul as paving the way toward a national strategy for peace. The jirga, or tribal council, highlighted a reintegration and reconciliation plan described by Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a May visit to Washington.
The plan calls on moderate insurgent members to join the Afghan political process. The Afghan Taliban said they see no need to negotiate because they feel they have the upper hand.
Nevertheless, the envoy said, peace in Afghanistan depends on the independence of the government in Kabul.
"Long-term objectives of peace, stability and development in Afghanistan can only be realized by respecting its sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity," he said.
Security issues in Afghanistan, he said, must be resolved without externalizing the problem.
U.S. President Barack Obama linked Pakistani stability to Afghan security when he rolled out his revised war strategy in December.
