- Sartaj fingers at forces against Afghan reconciliation; asks Taliban to give up violence, join peace process
Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that strengthening of border management with Afghanistan and Iran is in the top priority of the government to avoid untoward terror incidents and cross-border infiltration of terrorists.
“Neither Afghanistan nor Iran is our enemy. We have already expressed our concerns over the tragic episode took place on the Pak-Iran border,” he told a questioner during an international conference on achieving peace in Afghanistan, organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF).
Adviser Sartaj said that the Pak-Iran border where the incident took place was very close to Afghanistan. Other than extremist elements, there were also smugglers in the area, he said. During Iranian foreign minister’s visit to Pakistan, strengthening of border management was discussed in detail, he said.
It was also decided between the two countries to strengthen the border commission which would consist of eight members, four each from Pakistan and Iran. The meeting of the commission would be held this month for tackling the border mechanism to avoid such untoward incidents in future, he said.
Regarding prime minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia for the Islamic summit, he said that the summit would discuss the issues pertaining to the Islamic world including Palestine and Kashmir. He said that US President Donald Trump has already indicated that he wanted to work on Kashmir issue.
Replying to another question, he said Indian has submitted an application before the International Court of Justice in Kulbhshan Jadhav’s case. “The application and the jurisdiction of the court are being evaluated,” he said, adding that the Foreign Office would soon issue its statement. He also said that the meaningful engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan was of key importance for peace and stability in the region.
Sartaj was of the view that the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have the immense scope and offer multiple opportunities. Pakistan extends transit trade facilities to Afghanistan through its ports under an Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) without any quantitative limits or barriers.
The revision of this agreement is due and the next meeting of the Transit Trade Coordination Authority would be convened soon. The adviser said that a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan due to which it has been making sincere efforts to facilitate talks between the Afghan government and Taliban.
“We believe that a politically negotiated settlement will be the most viable option for bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan,” he said, and reiterated that the future of the region lies in peaceful and stable Afghanistan. Pakistan remains committed to the goal of lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region, he said.
“Our consistent and clear message to the Taliban has been that they must give up violence and join the peace process. Our efforts led to Murree talks in July 2015 and the setting up of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) in December 2015. However, both times the process was undermined by forces that were against reconciliation,” he remarked.
He said that the lack of progress on the peace process, emerging threat of the Islamic State, drug trafficking, the resettlement of returning refugees were some of the issues that have been making it difficult for Afghanistan to create a stable country. “This situation is affecting not only Afghanistan’s neighbours but the entire region,” he said.
He said that the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were also being affected due to these factors, despite centuries-old bonds of common culture, heritage, traditions and religion. Besides security operations, FATA reforms were being introduced to mainstream the tribal region politically and administratively, and to accelerate its development and safeguard its security, he said.
In order to strengthen these gains, “we have been emphasising the need for effective border management with Afghanistan,” he said. This would prevent the unnecessary movement and would help address the Afghan allegations regarding Taliban and Haqqani Network presence, he said. Pakistan has also been stressing upon the Afghan government to take action against the TTP and JuA sanctuaries in Afghanistan, he said.
Afghanistan has vast mineral resources which made the connectivity with Pakistan more important so that it could export the same to the outer world. Projects including Peshawar-Kabul motorway and Quetta-Kandahar rail link are in pipeline which would only come to fruition if an environment of peace and stability is achieved.
Moreover, energy cooperation through projects like CASA-1000 and TAPI will bring huge dividends for Pakistan, Afghanistan and the region, he added. Besides Pakistan, scholars from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia and the United States also participated in the conference.
Institute’s Acting President Sohail Tirmizi said that converting Afghanistan into a Western-styled democracy has failed because sustainable peace in the country was not possible without a political settlement. In his opening remarks, Hanns Seidel representative Kristof Duwaerts said that a ‘bad’ public image of Pakistan in Afghanistan does not reflect the contributions and sacrifices which Pakistanis have made for Afghan nationals.
“There is a huge constituency for understanding and dialogue in and between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said. Former foreign minister Inamul Haque, former defence secretary Asif Yasin Malik, Former Anti-Narcotics Force director general Khawar Hanif, Dr Farhan Hanif Siddiqui, Dr Attaullah Wahidyar, Sayed Mahdi Munadi, and senior journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai also addressed the conference.
