Beginning the journey with baby steps
This paper has long espoused the cause of improvement of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The stand was based not solid reasons. First and foremost, neither of the two countries can live in peace and ensure its security without mutual goodwill and cooperation. The entire region faces an existential threat from a number of terrorist networks which are both resilient and resourceful. The networks make use of the differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan to crisscross the 2,430 kilometre long Durand Line that divides the neighbours. No gates, barbed wires, walls or trenches can ensure the complete sealing of the porous border. The surest and cheapest way to secure it is mutual understanding and cooperation.
The terrorists nurtured in the region have played havoc all over the globe. This explains why Heart of Asia conferences attract so many countries from nearly all the continents. Among the states most concerned for peace in the region are the US, Russia, and China. There was pressure on Pakistan from the Obama administration to act against all terrorist groups across the board. This persists under Trump as the statements from US NSA HR McMaster indicate.
One welcomes the realisation on both sides of the Durand Line that they need to improve their relations. On Friday a high level military delegation from Pakistan was in Kabul to meet its Afghan counterparts . On Saturday a 15 member Parliamentary delegation headed by NA Speaker reached Kabul on a three day spree of talks with Afghan government, opposition and parliamentary leaders representing different sections of society. A similar delegation from Afghanistan is expected to visit Pakistan
Talks need patience. It has to be recognised that some of the differences between the two countries will continue to persist for a long time to come like the one on delineating and fencing the border and another on allowing Afghan trucks access to and from Indian cities. There is however a need to start with issues that can be settled more easily and move step by step to more intractable issues.