Tuesday July 8, 2014
Kabul (BNA) Following fresh waves of security threats in Pakistan particularly after the terrorist attack on Karachi International Airport, Islamabad came with a new proposal and stressed on joint anti-terror derive between Afghanistan and Pakistan to curb the menace in the region. But, one thing is clear that implementation of the plan that will pave the ground for a joint anti-terror derive is linked to Islamabad’s honest cooperation and practical measures. The government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan positively responded to the Pakistani call and sent a delegation under the leadership of National Security Advisor Rangeen Dadfar Spanta to Islamabad to conduct discussions with the Pakistani officials on how to enhance cooperation between the two nations to combat terrorism and extremism jointly.
In a statement, Dr. Spanta has said that so far he has visited Pakistan for twenty times since he took the office as foreign minister. But this time, Spanta has seriously talked with the Pakistani officials and clarified one thing that Helmand war and continuous missile shelling on Kunar and Nuristan provinces were clear invasion of Afghanistan’s territory by Pakistan. But at the same time, Dr. Spanta announced that his visit was productive and important to settle down the ongoing commons threats. The bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have faced major ups and downs in the course of time. But, with consideration of ongoing situations, what kind of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan needs to restore and how it is possible to implement the preconditions which were tabled by president Karzai to jointly combat terrorism.
The relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan must be restored on the basis of consensus, harmony and sincerity. Afghanistan wants Pakistan to seriously and honestly fight terrorism and factors behind the insecurity. Currently, Pakistani military is engaged in a war with the terrorists in North Waziristan, but the same time some other circles are still supporting and harboring terrorism which has increased insecurity in Afghanistan. The people and government of Afghanistan do not further tolerate to Pakistan’s dual policy with regard to war against international terrorism and extremism. So far, officials from the two countries have met several times and signed several agreements, but none of the trips and agreement left positive impacts on forging better ties between the two neighbors. If the two countries are committed to joint and effectively fighter terrorism, then they need to harmonize their policies and boost confidence building measures.
It is a fact that Afghanistan and Pakistan are two neighbors and need to stay alongside each other forever, but for a good neighborhood, the two countries require to undertake a number of important measures regarding war on terrorism. Because, terrorism threatens interests of the two countries and terrorism is a common threat to both nations. But, the Pakistani officials never realized this fact and took superficial steps against terrors and militancy and their calculation was wrong. The people of Afghanistan stress that Pakistani must pursue a single policy regarding terrorist organizations, if Pakistan take practical steps and do more in combating terrorism; it would have constructive impacts on the security situations in both countries. If the border issues aren’t settled in line with the national interests of the two neighbors and international laws, it would be useless to expect Pakistan’s honest cooperation with Afghanistan.
