In a highly significant move, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have affirmed that their co-operation is vital to peace and stability, not only in Afghanistan but also in the region. They also made it clear that any regional arrangement for resolving the Afghan conflict should co-opt only immediate neighbours of the war-ravaged country, thus clearly and unambiguously excluding India.
A declaration was issued after the meeting between the foreign ministers of the three countries in Islamabad on Saturday. Coming as it does before the London international moot on Afghanistan, which is being held at the end on this month, the meeting conveys an important message to the participants who are supposed to evolve, among other things, an international architecture for co-ordinating global efforts for peace, stability and development in Afghanistan.
India is keen to fill the vacuum in Afghanistan after the US-led allied forces leave the country, even though it does not share a border with Afghanistan. There are a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, that are eager to include India and some other countries in a security umbrella for Afghanistan.
India's inclusion in any arrangement of the type should be particularly disturbing for Islamabad on account of New Delhi's continuing hostility, indicated among other things by the recent jingoistic statement by Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor.
India has over the last few years enhanced its presence in Afghanistan. It has tried to lure the Karzai regime by offering it financial assistance. A number of Indian firms are presently engaged in development work in the country and have also brought with them hundreds of Indians as technicians and workers.
There is a widely-held perception that Indian intelligence sleuths might have entered the neighbouring country in a large number in the garb of employees of these private firms. What is particularly worrisome for Pakistan is that New Delhi has opened a number of consulates in towns bordering Pakistan. Pakistan strongly believes these are involved in sending saboteurs and terrorists into Balochistan.
While Afghanistan is the principal victim of terrorism, Pakistan and Iran are directly affected by what happens in that country. It was, therefore, important to indicate to the world that they enjoy a special position and that no resolution of the conflict planned abroad, which neglects their concerns, can succeed.
The reminder has come at a time when besides the London moot on Afghanistan, regional meetings are to be held, in days to come in Istanbul and Moscow, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The Islamabad Declaration rightly stresses that regional or international conferences have to acknowledge the salience of the trilateral engagement and co-operation for achieving common objectives and lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The declaration underlines the need for these process to be 'indigenous' and have the "ownership of all the immediate neighbours of Afghanistan." The three foreign ministers agreed on expanding their trilateral co-operation to include Afghanistan's other immediate neighbours - Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and China.
The follow-up of the trilateral meeting can be of great help in bringing the three countries together. A number of meetings between the three neighbours have been announced. Ministers of Interior will meet in Islamabad, Ministers of Finance and Commerce in Kabul and intelligence chiefs in Tehran.
Pakistan, in Islamabad, will host the next trilateral conference. An important decision taken at the meeting was that none of the three countries would allow its soil to be used against the other. This would hopefully bring to an end complaints by all the three regarding interference and acts of militancy from across each other's borders.
It would allay Iran's concerns regarding Jundullah criss-crossing Pak-Iran border with impunity. If pursued in letter and spirit, it would effectively address Pakistan's complaints regarding terrorists using Afghanistan as a launching pad and the leadership of Balochistan's militant networks, responsible for the acts of sabotage and target killing in the province, enjoying asylum in Afghanistan.
According to Shah Mahmud Qureshi, the three countries also discussed the connectivity and the roadmap for the region to face the challenge of militant extremism. Also came under discussion, the ways and means to curb illicit weapons and drug money through a comprehensive approach. It would benefit the three neighbouring countries to stick to a common roadmap for trilateral interaction in days to come.
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