Amid ongoing border tensions, Pakistan has underlined that a close cooperation and meaningful engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan in areas of security, counter-terrorism and border management is necessary to preventing cross-border movement of terrorist groups and stabilize the region..
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Monday told an Afghan media delegation that relations between the two brotherly countries were rooted in common history, religion, culture and people-to-people ties.
Like their past, Afghanistan and Pakistan also shared their destiny. “It is, therefore, important that the two countries closely work together for dealing with common challenges and pursue the welfare and progress of the peoples,” he added, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
Aziz’s remarks came as Kabul faced a bleak future with no plan to find a way out of its troubles including insurgency, political infighting and deteriorating relations with Pakistan, the neighbor who is critical to Afghan international trade and peace in the region.
For more than 15 years, Afghanistan has been deflecting criticism of its incompetence with constant allegations against Pakistan allowing safe havens of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqanis. At the same time, Kabul has facilitated India in opening a second front against Pakistan, a regional power and Afghanistan’s trade opening.
But since Pakistan launched effective campaigns against militants operating in the tribal areas, eliminating terror sanctuaries and enforcing peace on its side of the border, Kabul has finding it hard to hide its failures. While previously, the Afghans repeatedly claimed, Islamabad was harboring the Afghan Taliban, now it is abundantly clear to the international community that actually it is Afghanistan, where anti-Pakistan terrorist including factions of the Pakistani Taliban are hiding using its soil for attacks against Pakistani state and citizens.
In February, a number of attacks on Pakistani cities were traced back to militants based in Afghanistan. Consequently, Pakistan, which has also hosted millions of Afghans since 1980s, closed the Afghan border to all sorts of traffic.
Despite US assistance, Kabul remains bogged down in internal fights and has failed to stop the spread of ISIS or control the Afghan Taliban insurgency.
Last month, the United States killed an al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, who has was responsible for a number of bombings on high-profile targets in Pakistan.
In his remarks, Adviser Aziz said there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and the focus should be on political settlement through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process.
He highlighted serious efforts made by Pakistan for peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, saying cooperation between the two countries was important for promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
The members of the Afghan media had a frank and candid conversation on the efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan and strengthening of bilateral engagement.
The delegation is on a visit to Pakistan from April 2 to 8, for interaction with the government, parliamentary and civil society institutions.
