UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for an effective `preventive strategy` to deal with violent extremism which is the result of `interplay between local and external factors`.

`E conomic deprivation, political injustice, social exclusion and marginalisation of people need to be addressed not only in the local context but also in the wider international context, Pakistan`s United Nations Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said while participating in the General Assembly debate on the recently announced UN Secretary General`s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, a press statement issued here said.

She said that injustices done to people under foreign occupation, denial of the right to self-determination, long-festering and unresolved disputes, and interference in the internal affairs of states created conditions thatwere exploited by violent ex tremists and terrorists to propagate their twisted ideologies.

`The international community, in particular the United Nations, already has a responsibility to address these issues.

Doing so, diligently, will also address the drivers of violent extremism and the conditions conducive to terrorism.

Ms Lodhi said that Pakistan was gratified to note that the international community was finally acknowledging the need to go beyond security and military-centred counter-terrorism measures and adopt a more comprehensive approach. `Pakistan has long advocated this so that the underlying factors that drive terrorist violence are addressed in their entirety.

But she expressed surprise and dismay at the relatively little attention given by the UN Secretary General`s Action Plan to obvious international factors that have so decisively influenced the emergence of violent extremism.The Pakistani envoy told the 193-member General Assembly that the rise of xenophobia, in particular Islamophobia in the West, had also fuelled the process of radicalisation. `This has so far gone unchecked and unfortunately unprincipled, xenophobic politicians have sought to build their political fortunes by spreading fear and deliberate mischaracterisation of people of other faiths or culture.

Stressing the need to ensure respect for international law and human rights in counter-terrorism measures, Ms Lodhi assailed foreign military interventions that she said had rendered countries and regions susceptible to the chaos in which violent extremism thrived.

She deplored any attempt to associate violent extremism and terrorism with any country, race, religion, culture or nationality and urged the international community to ensure that this was fully reflected in their national and international actions.