Pak-Afghan relations
Shamsa Ashfaq
The nature of relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a very
delicate one. Their relationship often remained testy due to which their
brotherhood frequently found descending into mutual recrimination. As a
result, Afghan officials not only indicted Pakistan of not doing enough
to stop militants entering Afghanistan through the long and porous
border but also accused Pakistan’s security and intelligence agencies of
aiding a series of high-profile attacks, including an assassination
attempt against President Karzai and the suicide bombing of the Indian
embassy in Kabul in July that killed 58 people. Whereas the fact remains
that Pakistan had no involvement in any of these attacks and all her
efforts are to build and stabilize Afghanistan to establish peace in the
entire region.
Knowing that deteriorating ties between the two countries would not
benefit either of them, Pakistan again took the initiative to improve
its relations with Afghanistan in the best interest of the people living
on both sides of the divide. Putting aside all bitterness, Pakistan’s
Army Chief, General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani visited Afghanistan on 19th
August 2008. Though the visit was part of a series of tripartite
meetings designed to underpin cross-border cooperation against
insurgents but General Kayani’s arrival manifested the fact that
Pakistan sincerely wishes to restore peace in Afghanistan and fight the
menace of terrorism. That visit helped in breaking the ice and paved the
way for cordial Pak-Afghan relations. Afterwards, President Karzai was
specially invited to attend the Asif Ali Zardari’s oath-taking ceremony
as President of Pakistan on 9th September 2008, which Afghan President
accepted in a good will. While addressing the joint press conference,
Zardari and President Hamid Karzai vowed to stand together to hit back
the terrorism threatening the two countries. “Pakistan and Afghanistan
are like twins conjoined. They are inseparable. And that is why both are
suffering the same troubles by the same evils”, said President Karzai.
This statement by the Afghan President was welcomed by analysts and
ascribed a silver lining in the long murky relations between Pakistan
and Afghanistan. There is no denying the fact that Pakistan has always
acknowledged its deep rooted and long-term relations with Afghanistan
and believed that a stable, peaceful Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s best
interest. But it is gratifying that now Afghan government has also
realized the need to increase cooperation with Pakistan to beat the
strong elements that are opposed to building friendly relations between
the two neighbours. As a part of it Pakistan and Afghanistan Foreign
Ministers will meet later this month in New York on the sidelines of the
UN General Assembly. Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi
and his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dafdar Spanta have agreed to a
road-map to enhance bilateral cooperation, remove misunderstandings and
reduce regional tensions. Under the road-map, after their meeting in New
York, a joint mini jirga or council of elders will be held in early
October in Islamabad for which the lists of members of jirga had already
been exchanged. Regional economic cooperation conference (RECCA) will be
held in Islamabad in the second half of November. The two foreign
ministers also agreed for early convening of the Joint Economic
Commission. Furthermore, both governments have decided to increase the
frequency of political engagements to minimize the chances of
misunderstanding between the two countries. Both the countries have
endeavored to hold regular meetings between the Advisors of Pakistan and
Afghanistan would also visit each other’s country to have in-depth
consultations on security issues in order to achieve the objective of a
stable and peaceful region and promote bilateral relations and regional
developments.
Besides, Pakistan is already engaged in a number of health, education
and developmental projects in Afghanistan. Pakistan has always been
blamed for producing miscreants that wreak havoc in Afghanistan.
However, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) in a
bid to remove this misconception have just completed training an
18-member team of Afghan doctors. This life savers team consisting of
doctors, bio-medical engineers and paramedics will leave for their
country on 27 September. The training was part of the Pakistan
government’s proposal to set up a kidney centre at Jalalabad named after
Sardar Abdul Rab Nishter. The ‘Nishter Kidney Centre’ which is one of
the first of its kind in Afghanistan, could not be completed within its
estimated time due to deteriorating security conditions. It is hoped
that the centre will soon be completed and begin to serve the poor and
underprivileged people of Afghanistan. The afghan team leader, Dr
Salahuddin Oriakhil lamented the lack of institutions in Afghanistan and
said there are only seven medical colleges and one medical university,
that too, with extremely low standards. While appreciating government of
Pakistan’s effort he said, ‘ Pakistan and its people have helped Afghans
through thick and thin, with this training course being a prime example
of their willingness to aid the Afghan cause’. Other than kidney centre
a 200 bed Jinnah Hospital in Kabul is also under construction.
Government of Pakistan has some other major projects under way in
Afghanistan which include Allama Iqbal faculty of arts, Kabul
University, Sir Syed Post-graduate science faculty block, Nangarhar
university and Liaqat Ali Khan engineering faculty, Mazar-e-Sharif. With
this and many more, Pakistan calls for an expansion of the existing good
neighborly relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and hope a new
page of relations be opened between the two nations. Truly, Pakistan has
not only been the foremost player in the fight against terror but has
also been a major victim of violence. Still the commitment is there;
however, there is a dearth of resources to pursue this conflict
indefinitely, people of Pakistan will continue to support their afghan
brethren until the stability is established in the region.
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