A ray of hope

Thanks to the efforts of Afghan security forces, two Pakistani diplomats abducted in Afghanistan on June 16 were recovered on Wednesday and handed over to our embassy in Kabul. They were on their way back home from Jalalabad, capital of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, when they went missing. The identity of the kidnappers or their motive has not been disclosed. Various criminal and militant groups, including Pakistani Taliban, are active in the province. It may well be a case of kidnapping for ransom. A while ago, sons of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the slain Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer, were abducted for ransom from Multan and Lahore, respectively, and taken to Afghanistan. Both suffered prolonged ordeals. It is a matter of relief that the two members of Pakistan's diplomatic staff have been freed by the Afghan forces in less than six weeks' time, and also that their captors, apparently, were not the TTP terrorists, which could have led to extremely unpleasant consequences.
The Afghan government deserves Pakistan's gratitude for making determined efforts to find them at a time tensions between the two countries remain high. Each side accuses the other of doing things inimical to the other's interests. Kabul claims Pakistan has not done enough to oust Afghan Taliban, particularly the Haqqani network, from its side of the border; Islamabad has good reason to complain about Afghan government's policy of letting the TTP terrorists use its territory to launch attacks into this country. To end the prevailing atmosphere of suspicions and recriminations, last March Britain hosted a meeting between Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar. The two sides expressed their respective concerns on terrorist sanctuaries, agreeing on a mechanism to address issues causing mistrust between them. Unfortunately, the agreement did not last long.
Kabul's response to the present incident offers a new ray of hope. Not only the security forces had acted quickly to recover the two officers, President Ashraf Ghani personally phoned Pakistan Charge d'Affaires in Kabul to give him the news. Considering the environment, that was no small goodwill gesture on his part. Regrettably, it was not reciprocated at the appropriate level. Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua called the Afghan ambassador to give her side's thanks. The then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - who was away at the time on a visit to the Maldives - was required to call President Ghani and express his appreciation. Pakistan must use this opportunity to try and build mutual confidence, paving the way for co-operative measures to deal with the common threat of terrorism as well as resolution of the unending conflict in that war-devastated country.