At UN, Pakistan warns of grave situation in Afghanistan if its humanitarian, economic crisis not addressed.

Pakistan has underscored the need for addressing Afghanistan's humanitarian and economic crisis, warning that its consequences would be: massive human suffering, more Afghan refugees, revival of internal conflict, and an intensified threat from terrorist groups, like Da'esh.

'We are at another inflection point in Afghanistan's recent turbulent history,' Ambassador Muni Akram told the UN Security Council on Thursday as it examined the policies of the Taliban, who took control of that country in August last year.

'We must be clear about our objectives,' the Pakistani envoy said, adding that the primary objective must be to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan where the devastating earthquake on Wednesday was just one of several emergencies facing the country.

As chairman of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers, he said Pakistan has circulated to the 15-member council a document outlining a pathway to peace, as envisaged by the 57-member organization at the last two ministerial conferences.

OIC members call for sustained engagement, including in recovery, reconstruction, education, financial and material assistance, Ambassador Akram said, reiterating that Afghanistan's access to its financial resources will be pivotal to preventing economic collapse and urging the Council to ensure that targeted sanctions do not impede the provision of humanitarian aid or economic resources.

In addition, he said, they reaffirmed that Afghanistan's territory must not be used as a safe haven for terrorist groups, recalled their previous statement on Afghan girls' right to education, and reiterated the central role of OIC member States, Islamic scholars and others in exchanging best practices with Afghan authorities on women's rights. OIC called on the Security Council to support all such efforts and trusted that both it and UNAMA (UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) would consider those elements for normalizing the situation in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani envoy also looked forward to working with UNAMA, which must address the impact of bilateral sanctions and help to unfreeze Afghanistan's assets.

Pakistan, he said, remains especially concerned about the terrorist attacks emanating from Afghanistan that are sponsored and financed by "our adversary," an obvious reference to India. "We will find effective ways to end such terrorist attacks against Pakistan and to end the disinformation campaign which one member of the Security...