The United States continues to remain silent amid prevailing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with no immediate indication of the reopening of the Pak-Afghan border which was closed following the recent spate of terror attacks in the country. The US authorities - both in Pakistan and Afghanistan - have maintained an unusual silence due to absence of any guidelines from the Trump administration.
The US Embassy officials, the White House and State Department remained silent on the latest tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which reflects a shift in the US policy with respect to Afghanistan where it is considered to be a key stakeholder. A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, ISI chief Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, National Security Adviser Lieutenant General Nasser Khan Janjua (Retd) on Friday reportedly decided that the Pak-Afghan border will remain shut until the border region is completely cleared of terrorists.
Responsibility for the majority of recent terror attacks in Pakistan were claimed by Afghanistan-based terror group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter outfit of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan undertook several measures including cross-border shelling against the militant hideouts, closing of the border crossings and summoning of the Afghan Embassy officials to GHQ with a demand to hand over 76 most wanted terrorists.
More recently on February 27, according to the Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, Afghan Deputy Chief of Staff General Murad Ali Murad summoned Pakistan Ambassador Syed Abrar Hussain to the Afghan Ministry of Defence through Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, General Murad requested de-escalation at the border and re-opening of the crossing points between the two countries. Highlighting the sufferings of people on both sides of the border due to its closure and cross-border shelling from Pakistan, the spokesperson said that the Afghan General sought a reduction in tensions and also promised to take action against terrorists on the basis of shared information.
Ambassador Hussain also briefed General Murad on the circumstances behind actions taken by Pakistan and conveyed to him that Afghan nationals were involved in recent attacks in Pakistan and stressed the need for Afghanistan to take appropriate measures and deny the use of its soil by terrorists against Pakistan. The Afghan General was further informed that the border was closed to prevent crossing by terrorists and the need for efforts by both countries to strengthen border management was highlighted.
Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal, in a statement on Saturday, said that continuous "unreasonable closure of legal" Pak/Afghan trade and transit routes cannot have any other explanation except to be aimed at hurting the common Afghan people. "However, what actually gets hurt more is bilateral trade, with Pakistan losing more - Peshawar & Quetta in particular as Pakistan's declining export share in Afghanistan is indicative of that," he said in a statement who issued it through Facebook.
He said that the continuous closure of trade routes also goes in direct contradiction to the theme and objectives of the recently held ECO summit that Pakistan hosted and led.
"Since their closure, as I have raised this issue with the relevant Pakistan military and civilian leadership, I have not been provided with a convincing justification. Argument that the closure of these crossing points was needed to stop terrorists' crossing cannot carry any weight as these points such as Torkham and Spin Boldak have been manned by hundreds of military and other security personnel and have all the checking infrastructure and equipments in place," he added. The Afghan Ambassador further stated that he have also raised with Pakistani leaders the plight of about 25000 Afghan visitors, mostly poor people, who have travelled to this country on Pakistan visas for medical treatment or visits and are now stuck on this side for more than two weeks.
"Over the past week repeated assurances are given to me that the crossing points will open at least partially to allow these stranded visitors to return to their country but it hasn't happened yet," he said.
"Today in my conversation with Mr Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, I conveyed to him that if in the next couple of days an opening was not allowed for the return of the stranded visitors I would ask my government to provide chartered flights to lift them. This, however, would reflect a very poor picture," he added.
Comments
Comments are closed.