SPY EYES

Expressing support for Afghan-led peace negotiations with the Taliban, Pakistan has strongly denied having a hidden agenda for Afghanistan.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, the first female Pakistani cabinet minister ever to visit Kabul, February 1 said her trip was aimed at enhancing bilateral goodwill and all-around co-operation.

She spent the day conferring with Afghan leaders and discussing Pakistani-Afghan relations.

Accompanied by Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and other officials, she and Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed the peace process and threats posed to neighbouring countries by terrorism.

Khar invited Karzai to attend a trilateral meeting set for February 16-17 in Islamabad, according to the Afghan presidential palace.

Khar reiterated Pakistan’s robust support for the Afghan-led reconciliation project, according to a statement from Karzai’s office.

Karzai expressed his view that Islamabad could play a pro-active role in promoting the peace negotiations and said insecurity had hampered both countries’ development.

Fundamentalism is a sinister conspiracy that has damaged peace in the region, Karzai said, calling for a joint struggle for peace and stability.

A peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s best interest and it will continue to give Afghan development all possible assistance, Khar said.

She also met separately with Ustad Mohaqiq, Faizullah Zaki and Younas Qanooni, leaders of Hizb-e-wahdat, Jumbish-i- Milli and Afghanistan’s ethnic Tajiks, respectively.

End the recriminations, Khar says

Pakistan always has supported efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan, Khar said, calling for an end to recriminations. “We have to end the blame game,” she urged.

“Islamabad remains committed to sincere co-operation with Kabul in jointly combating the scourge of militancy, which also threatens Pakistan’s unity,” she remarked. “An unstable Afghanistan would spawn volatility in the whole region.”

Afghan counterpart Zalmay Rassoul described Khar’s visit as a new chapter in co-operation, and said he hopes the countries’ ties would grow with time.

Karzai soon will visit Pakistan to discuss greater co-operation, Rassoul said, emphasising the neighbours have no choice but to step up their work at stabilising the region.

The Pakistani and Afghan delegations discussed in depth a programme for enhancing co-operation in various fields and re-affirmed their peoples’ historical, cultural and religious bonds.

Pakistan fully supports Afghanistan’s drive to determine its own future, the Pakistani delegation said.

“Both countries agreed that an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process was vital for reaching an intra-Afghan political settlement … and that it required taking necessary steps in the specific areas requested by the government of Afghanistan to facilitate the peace process,” a joint statement issued at the end of Khar’s visit said.

They also “reiterated a commitment to steer bilateral relations in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, mutual respect and the UN Charter,” the statement said.

A strong bilateral relationship will greatly aid peace and stability in the region, the statement said.

Greater co-operation sought in many fields

The two sides called for deeper interaction in various fields like security, development, transit, trade, economic and investment links, infrastructure and energy connectivity and people-to-people contacts.

They also agreed to form, on a priority basis, a joint commission to address the issue of Pakistani prisoners in Afghanistan and vice versa, as announced during Karzai’s June visit to Islamabad.

Trade was one bright spot of the day. The two delegations expressed satisfaction that annual bilateral trade had reached $2.5 billion (Rs. 226.1 billion) and agreed to co-operate on boosting it to $5 billion (Rs 452.2 billion) by 2015.

Education could also become a bridge for the two peoples. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has announced a plan to award 2,000 scholarships for Afghan students to attend Pakistani universities. More than 1,400 Afghan students have so far benefited from such a programme, while about 7,000 Afghan students are enrolled in Pakistani universities and professional colleges.

The delegations discussed infrastructure linkages, agreeing to explore donor funding for building Peshawar-Jalalabad and Quetta-Kandahar railways and to give priority to the planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan India gas pipeline and CASA-1000 regional electricity project.

They also recognised the need to jointly pursue trade and transit agreements with Central Asian states.

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Source: Central Asia Online