Jamali in Kabul

Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has returned from a one-day visit to Kabul, which he described as a "great success". In a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and later at Chaklala airport on his return, the Prime Minister spelt out the details of what had been agreed and was on offer from the Pakistan side.
He promised to further strengthen security along the border with Afghanistan to prevent militants from crossing back and forth.
He pledged to join hands with Afghanistan in combating terrorism and help in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.
The Prime Minister announced a donation of 100 buses and 200 trucks as part of the $100 million aid package announced by Pakistan some time ago.
He revealed that a contract for the construction of the Torkham-Jalalabad road had already been awarded and hoped the project would be completed by June 2005.
Pakistan has offered to build a rail link between Chaman and Kandahar and open two additional border crossings in NWFP and Balochistan to ease the pressure on Torkham and Chaman.
Scholarships are on offer for Afghan students in Pakistani universities in the fields of engineering, IT, business administration, etc, and these scholarships would be doubled next year. A kidney centre in Jalalabad and a limb centre in Kandahar had also been offered.
Training would be provided to Afghan police, apart from training in banking, customs, postal services, highways and motorway systems, and financial management.
Trade between the two countries has risen to $620 million this year compared to $430 million the previous year.
It is hoped that this would increase to $1 billion by next year. Afghanistan has appreciated the release of 194 Afghan prisoners from Pakistani jails and will reciprocate with the release of 94 Pakistani prisoners languishing in Afghan jails immediately, and the rest gradually to allow screening by the Pakistani authorities.
Afghanistan is to allow Pakistanis to use Afghan territory when Lowari top is blocked by winter snows, thus overcoming Chitral's being cut off otherwise.
On the apprehensions regarding India's use of Afghan territory against Pakistan, Jamali said, "Afghanistan will not support any third country against Pakistan."
The Pakistan-India thaw in relations, the Prime Minister asserted, would also have a positive impact on the Islamabad-Kabul relationship.
President Hamid Karzai echoed Prime Minister Jamali's sentiments and was pleased to note the recognition in both countries that they were engaged in a joint fight against terrorism.
The ground for the two leaders to agree on a raft of measures had already been prepared a day earlier in Kabul in the third meeting of the Pak-Afghan Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC).
The finance ministers of the two countries led their respective delegations at the JMC sessions, which saw positive developments in the shape of the reduction by half of the list of 24 items banned under the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) accord.
Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz announced additional items to be excluded from the banned list.
For the remaining items, Aziz urged the Afghan side to strengthen customs arrangements and the tariff regime to facilitate further progress in this regard.
Pakistan has also removed any discriminatory provisions against ATT cargo, conceded extended storage of such cargo at KPT, and allowed Port Qasim to also handle Afghan cargo, apart from Karachi port.
Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani responded by saying that three important decisions of the last JMC had been implemented.
PIA is operating three flights per week between Islamabad and Kabul.
The National Bank of Pakistan has opened a branch in Kabul and is seeking more branches in Jalalabad and Kandahar. Habib Bank is now also being given permission to operate in Afghanistan. A new customs regime would shortly be put in place to curb smuggling.
All these developments are portents of a healthier and friendlier relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The latter country needs peace on its eastern border to overcome the ravages of war and proceed on the path of massive reconstruction required.
Pakistan, on the other hand, needs peace in the west and peace in the east if it is to utilise the present conjuncture for development and prosperity.
The peoples of Pakistan and Afghanistan wholeheartedly support the new turn. We can only wish the enterprise more power and Godspeed.