Pakistan on Friday expressed deep annoyance over repeated cross-border militant attacks in Chitral and Dir from Afghanistan, warning it could take an “action on its own” to eliminate the miscreants if the Afghan government and NATO failed to stop them.
Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin held important discussions with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir at the Foreign Office during Joint Peace Commission’s meeting on bilateral issues with particular focus on reconciliation process with the Taliban. However, the Pakistani delegation led by the foreign secretary used the occasion to raise the contentious issue of cross-border attacks by Taliban militants on Pakistan from Afghanistan.
“The Pakistani side expressed its deep concern that the Afghan army and NATO forces have been unable to stop the incursions into Pakistani territories by Taliban militants. Pakistani officials also warned that Islamabad could itself take action against the militants, who are breaching its sovereignty if such attacks continued,” an official said. He said the meeting also reviewed the ongoing efforts to reach out to the Taliban for reconciliation.
The foreign secretary and the Afghan deputy foreign minister addressed a joint press conference after the meeting in which they said the two sides discussed ways and means to take effective and concrete measures against the common enemies of extremism and terrorism to ensure peace in the region.Basher said, “Terrorism is a common enemy and both the countries have agreed to take effective measures to curb the menace and fight the militancy for the safety of people of both the states.”
“The reconciliation process led by and owned by Afghan people and leadership will be the final solution to the problems confronting my country,” Ludin said. Asked about media reports suggesting direct contact between the US and the Taliban leaders for reconciliation, Ludin said, “It’s a reconciliation process led by the Afghan people and their leadership and all those who are helping us in this process… they will have to streamline the efforts and ultimately there will be a single peace process.”
