Mr Mohammed Umer Daudzai, former Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, in his op-ed piece in The New York Times has requested Pakistan to show compassion and should not send Afghan refugees back to their homes. But at the same time like, all other former Afghan officials, he also expressed doubts that Pakistan could be a good friend of Afghanistan. This kind of conflicting messages has undermined the efforts to build good strategic, cultural and trade relations with Afghanistan. Mr Daudzai forgets that despite being a neighbour of Afghanistan, former Afghan governments have always supported other countries’ resolutions that were detrimental to Pakistan’s interest in multilateral platforms even before the start of Soviet occupation of his country. So now he should support building of mutual trust and confidence. We support the efforts of President Ashraf Ghani to build stronger relations with Pakistan and we feel it is a good foreign policy for regional peace and stability. Pakistani government seems to be very serious to allow the Afghan government to lead the efforts of political reconciliation and nation building. It is a win-win for the region.
ABDUL QUAYYUM KHAN KUNDI
Islamabad