Ad Supplement March 23, 2016

PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN GROWING TIESBY Jamal A. Nasir

Pakistan has always desired good friendly re-lations with Afghanistan. To this end, Govern-ment of Pakistan’s “peace for development” policy guides its relations with Afghanistan. This policy is based on the premise of peaceful neighborhood and regional cooperation at its core.

Since the advent of Government of National Unity, leadership of both the countries made sincere efforts to forge a long-lasting bilateral relationship in all aspects of bilateral relation-ship including peace and reconciliation, refu-gees issues, commerce and trade, and regional cooperation.

During the first ten months of the democrati-cally elected National Unity Government, both the countries made tangible progress on all is-sues of mutual concern and saw a paradigm shift in bilateral relationship. Both leaders un-dertook bilateral visits. Cooperation in the fields of commerce and trade, intelligence sharing, defense was witnessed. Afghan-owned and Af-ghan-led peace and reconciliation process was initiated. Pakistan facilitated the first round of intra-Afghan peace talks in Muree. However,

the process was derailed with the confirmation of death news of Mullah Omar and subsequently the positive and upward trajectory of bilateral re-lationship received a serious dent. However, it got restored during the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Islamabad. On the refugees issue, Pakistan’s hospitality has been exemplary. There wouldn’t be any example similar to Pakistan’s hospitality in the recorded history. Pakistan continues to host almost 3 mil-lion Afghan refugees since 1979 despite its eco-nomic constraints. Recently, the Government of Pakistan has not only assured the Afghan leader-ship that the Afghan refugees would not be re-patriated forcibly with the a hope that the Afghan Government would put in place necessary pull factors for their honorable and sustained repatria-tion.

Pakistan believes that the future rests on regional cooperation and connectivity. In this field also, Pakistan attaches primary importance to Af-ghanistan. Pakistan recognizes that early realiza-tion and implementation of CSA-1000 and TAPI would be fruitful for both the countries. On the same score, Pakistan has constructively engaged itself in the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process and hosted a Ministerial meeting in December 2015. Meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines

of Heart of Asia Conference provided another op-portunity to both the leaders to work together for peace and prosperity of the people of the region Pak-Afghan relations are not only about secu-rity issues. Pakistan and Afghanistan are major trading partners. For decades now, being a land-locked country Afghanistan has been receiving consumable material through Pakistan. Both the countries are committed to strengthen this rela-tionship further. Both the states recognize that deepening of bilateral economic relations is ben-eficial for stability and progress of both the coun-tries. Recognizing ethnic/cultural proximities and hu-man values, Pakistan despite its financial limita-tions came forward to help its Afghan brothers during their reconstruction efforts. In its bid, Pakistan made contributions in Afghanistan’s health, education sectors and infrastructural development across the country devoid of any ethnic favoritism: Pakistan built schools and col-leges, hospitals and roads, donated busses, heavy machineries. It also came forward to help its Af-ghan brothers during the avalanches and earth-quakes.

As part of its commitment to secure stability in Af-ghanistan, Pakistan is investing, through scholar-

ships and other arrangements, in Afghanistan’s human resource development also. Afghan offi-cials are undertaking trainings in numerous ca-pacity building programmes in Pakistan, in the fields of banking, civil aviation, nursing, and defence. Besides, there are thousands of Afghan students who are getting higher education un-der Prime Minister’s Scholarship Programme in Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s peaceful future depends to a great extent on an auspicious regional environ-ment, with Pakistan at its core. Likewise, Islam-abad desires friendly and good neighbourly re-lations with Afghanistan based on mutual trust‚ respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. This desire has been reiterated on many occa-sions by the leadership of Pakistan. As a mat-ter of fact, peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s vital security and economic interest. At this susceptible juncture of time, when the regional cooperation and connectivity has been recog-nized as the most trustworthy of options, both Afghanistan and Pakistan need to overcome the trust deficit, magnified by outsiders. Indubita-bly, the future lies in cooperation only. Hence, both the countries need to assess each other’s sensitivities and work together to further im-prove the narrative of bilateral relations.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghansitan, Syed Abrar Hussain, handing over Relief Assistance to Deputy Chairman of Afghan National Disaster Management Authority at Kabul Airport, on October 30, 2015