Pakistan has asked Afghanistan to ensure the safety of its embassy and staff in Kabul amid growing anti-Pakistan sentiments fuelled by the recent allegations levelled by President Ashraf Ghani against Pakistan. A formal request, according to sources, has been made to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs following incidents of harassment of the embassy personnel and a recent bid to kidnap a senior embassy official by unknown armed persons.
Harassment of Pakistan Embassy officials was a routine matter, sources stated, but the situation worsened after the senior Afghan leadership, particularly President Ghani, levelled serious allegations against Pakistan following the recent wave of insurgency in Afghanistan after the death of former Taliban chief Mullah Omar. Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah Thursday told journalists that Pakistan had been expressing concerns at the allegations levelled by Afghan government officials against Pakistan and the anti-Pakistan campaign whipped up by the Afghan media. But in backdrop of the situation, he said the security of Pakistan Embassy personnel had become a matter of top priority for the government of Pakistan.
"We have conveyed our concerns to the relevant authorities in Afghanistan. In response, we have been assured that all possible measures will be taken to ensure the security of our personnel and premises in Afghanistan," he added. Tensions between the two countries escalated early this month when President Ghani accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stop cross border infiltration of Taliban insurgents who, according to him, continue to be trained in Pakistan to carry out terror attacks inside Afghanistan.
The Afghan allegations led to an increase in tensions on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border followed by summoning of their respective ambassadors to lodge a protest against border shelling which has resulted in casualties on both sides. The border incidents continue to take place with reported killing of eight Afghan border security forces last week and four Pakistani security personnel on Sunday in a rocket attack from Afghanistan. Khalilullah said Pakistan had been sincerely making efforts to promote peace and tranquillity on Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He said border issues were also routinely discussed during meetings held between the two sides including military officials of the two countries. To a question about the upcoming sixth Regional Economic Co-operation Conference on Afghanistan, the spokesperson told Business Recorder that Pakistan was expected to take part in the moot which was scheduled for September 3-4. He said the level of participation from Pakistan side was yet to be decided and it would be announced once a decision was taken.
In the backdrop of the worsening relationship, Afghan government called off a meeting of the Joint Economic Commissions (JEC) between Pakistan and Afghanistan which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad on August 24-25. According to Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert on Afghan affairs, after the new government in Afghanistan there was an impression that the era of blame game was over. But it has resurfaced after 10 months of President Ghani in power and it seems that today's Afghanistan is no different from the one led by former President Hamid Karazi.
He said the major problem in relations between the two countries was their continued mistrust and their inability to effectively remove that mistrust by utilising proper channels instead of indulging in blame game. Yusufzai pointed out that Afghans believed Pakistan knew about the death of Mullah Omar but deliberately kept the Afghans in the dark - a perception that led to a pause in the peace talks.
He further said President Ghani's outburst against Pakistan further aggravated the situation, which was followed by increased tension on the border and some Afghan Ulema also issued a religious decree of waging 'Jihad' against Pakistan. Defence analyst Major General Jamshid Ayyaz argued that Afghan government was under immense influence from the Indian spy agency RAW and Kabul was following the same policy of former President Hamid Karazi.
He suggested that Pakistan should adopt a counter-strategy under a permanent Foreign Minister with a policy-making group comprising experts from civil bureaucracy, military and intelligence agencies to review the strategy and adapt it to the changing situation.