Muhammad Jamil
SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
People of Pakistan and Afghanistan are bound together by faith, common heritage and shared values of love and peace. There have been misunderstandings in the past between the two brotherly countries because of being in opposite camps during the Cold War era, but continuous contact and dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan has removed many a misunderstanding, and now both sides better understand each other’s point of view and compulsions. When one head of a state meets his counterpart during official visit, they exchange pleasantries regardless of the differences between their countries, which could be called diplomatic niceties. But during two-day visit to Pakistan in November 2014, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s gestures to forget about the past acrimonies and to have robust ties between the two countries appeared to be reflective of his sincere desire to move forward.
On Friday his first day of the visit, President Ashraf Ghani’s trip to the military headquarters in Rawalpindi along with his high-ranking delegation comprising high-ranking generals and other senior Afghan security officials was significant. He lauded Pakistan’s sacrifices in ‘war on terror’ and laid a floral wreath at the Martyrs Monument. He expressed his government’s interest in “bolstering security and defence ties with Pakistan, including cooperation in training and border management”. He in fact struck a positive note at the start of his visit. To end insurgency and bring peace in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani reportedly offered the Taliban to join the government, which offer has been turned down by the Taliban. More than three months after assuming his office, President Ghani is due to announce his cabinet, and intends that cabinet should comprise all parties in Afghanistan.
Indeed, there is need for multi-ethnic broad based government in Afghanistan, and perhaps it is in this backdrop that Afghan government intends to appoint Taliban governors to three southern provinces – Nimruz, Kandahar and Helmand. But source close to the Taliban leadership said security deals signed by the new government, allowing some international troops to remain in Afghanistan when combat troops left by the end of 2014, were the main stumbling block. The Taliban also want amendments to the constitution to ensure immunity from prosecution before they would enter into negotiations on joining the government. Of course, Pakistan will help in the peace process, and cooperate with the Afghan government. But no one should pin too many hopes, as Pakistan does not have influence over the Taliban otherwise Afghan Talban would have stopped the TTP from committing heinous acts in Pakistan.
President Ashraf Ghani has assured that Afghanistan would not allow its soil be used against Pakistan, and in return got assurance from Pakistan to crack down on the militants without any distinction. On Sunday, Director General (DG) Inter Services Public Relations (ISI), Rizwan Akhtar met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and agreed on making joint efforts to deal with the menace of terrorism. His current visit to Kabul is linked to his previous trip to Afghanistan along with Army Chief after the Peshawar massacre. In his previous visit, the DG ISI had shared information in connection with the whereabouts of Mullah Fazlullah and Umer Khurasani, and Afghan government had launched an operation in Kunar. As stated above, President Ashraf Ghani had visited General Headquarters of Pakistan Army to listen to the top army brass about their concerns.
Military delegations and US State department officials have been visiting Pakistan and holding meetings with military leadership at GHQ, but it was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a head of the state visited GHQ to understand military’s viewpoint, and assured it of addressing Paksitan’s concerns. In the meeting on 14th November 2014, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had lauded Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and the sacrifices made by the nation, a press release from the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) had said. A day after terrorists attacked on Army Public School Peshawar and martyred 142 persons including 134 students, COAS Raheel Sharif had rushed to Afghanistan and produced evidence regarding mullah Fazlullah’s involvement in the attack. In an unprecedented gesture, Afghan forces coupled with ISAF forces responded to the Pakistani request, launching a grand operation against TTP and its affiliates active on Afghan soil.
Afghan army chief General Sher Mohammad Karimi and ISAF chief General John Campbell had visited Pakistan and shared with General Raheel the details of their joint operation against TTP.
In another major breakthrough the same week, the intelligence chiefs of both countries, DG-ISI General Rizwan Akhtar and chief of National Directorate of Security (NDS) Rahmatullah Nabil, held a meeting for intelligence sharing. Meanwhile, the corps commander Quetta Lt. General Nasir Khan Janjua held a meeting with his counterpart, the corpse commander Jalalabad in Afghanistan in which important information was shared. The security establishments of both Pakistan and Afghanistan have never held such detailed meetings before. In the backdrop of growing engagements of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Indian desperation is understandable. To further its interests RAW is using Academia by funding writers like Bruce Riedel, who belongs to the breed of paid writers that are prejudiced against Pakistan.
India is using every opportunity to spoil the improved relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan since swearing-in of Ashraf Ghani as President. In fact, Indian politico-diplomatic circle does not want peace and stability in this region. Indian presence in Afghanistan and scores of its consulates are much more than economic activities. India through its consulates and other facilities in Afghanistan is also equipping and supporting Baloch Sub-nationalists and other terrorists in Balochistan. For much of Pakistan’s first three decades of independence Afghan territory was used to fan demand for a Pashtun homeland carved out of Pakistan. India covertly supported these demands, but the separatist movement died down after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Pakistan always wished to see a friendly government in Kabul, which was misinterpreted as if Pakistan was looking for ‘strategic depth’. It is hoped that with the change of guard in Afghanistan, a new era of friendship and cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan will usher.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
