ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s UN envoy has demanded a political dialogue and an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, where fierce fighting has raged on for months between the military and a powerful paramilitary force.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting, with widespread mass killings and rapes, and ethnically motivated violence. This has amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the UN and international rights groups.

Sudan’s Prime Minister Kamal Idris, who heads its transitional civilian government, proposed a peace plan on Monday. Idris said his plan includes a ceasefire monitored by the United Nations, African Union and Arab League, and the withdrawal of paramilitary forces from all areas they occupy, their placement in supervised camps and their disarmament.

“There is no military solution to the conflict in Sudan,” Usman Jadoon, Pakistan’s deputy ambassador at the United Nations, said on Monday. “The only durable path forward lies in a political dialogue and reconciliation.”

Jadoon said Pakistan supports all genuine efforts and political processes aimed at achieving an immediate cessation of hostilities and ceasefire, protecting civilians and providing unfettered humanitarian access to civilians. 

He called on the UN Security Council to support all efforts to safeguard Sudan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and reject “so-called parallel government or structures” that undermine state institutions and risk the country’s fragmentation. 

The Pakistani envoy called for maintaining “zero tolerance” for war crimes, including attacks against UN peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, with credible investigations and accountability of the perpetrators.

“The brotherly people of Sudan have suffered beyond measure,” Jadoon said. “The guns must be silenced; hopes for a brighter future rekindled; with peace and normalcy visible on the horizon.”

The devastating war in Sudan has killed more than 40,000 people according to UN figures, but aid groups say the true number could be many times higher. 

The conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with over 14 million people displaced, disease outbreaks and famine spreading in parts of the country.