Karazai’s Islamabad Visit

The News, Sun, August,29, 2004.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema


After having had two day’s intense discussions with Pakistani officials in Islamabad, the Afghan President Karazai appeared to be somewhat content with the outcome of his interaction. Nevertheless in his press conference, he stated that general impression in Afghanistan is that Pakistan is not doing enough to stop Taliban from crossing over to Afghanistan. This phrase has been echoed before but mostly by American officials. Does this mean that the Afghans are convinced that Pakistan is doing enough or does it mean that Afghan government is unable to plug the alleged infiltration?

While appreciating Pakistani fight against Al Qaeda, President Karazai expressed that jointly both countries could put up a good fight against those terrorists who are fighting Afghans, killing civilians and hurting peace process. ‘A massive effort has to be put in place to stop terrorists from hurting Afghanistan especially the upcoming elections’, he said.

It appears that discussion between the Afghan and Pakistani officials have been dominated by three main issues such as fight against terrorists and Talibans, Afghan elections and Afghan refugees voting, the issues relating to Pakistani prisoners. In addition there were many other issues relating to trade and economic development and communications that were subjected to discussion with a view to explore possibilities of cooperation. Ostensibly the Afghan President has gone back fully satisfied by his talks with the Pakistanis.

Undoubtedly the issue of fighting terrorism was the foremost in the minds of both the Afghans and Pakistani leaders. Both have expressed their determination to fight terrorism. President Musharraf assured his Afghan counterpart in no uncertain terms that Pakistan would not allow its territory to be used against Afghanistan. As far as Afghanistan is concerned they are indeed facing activities of Al Qaeda, the Talibans and Warlords. Both the Talibans and Warlords have been intensifying President Karazai’s concerns. Not only the poppy cultivation has enormously increased with the encouragement and protection of the Warlords but the effective control of vast areas continues to generate headaches for Karazai regime. Perhaps that is why President Karazai had expressed in the recent past that the activities of Warlords generate more concerns than that of the Talibans. Currently the Taliban activities are placed higher on Karazai’s concerns-ladder than the Warlords primarily because of the approaching presidential election in October. President Karazai feels that the Taliban would try to disrupt the elections and therefore he sought assurances from the Pakistani authorities to do everything possible to check Talibans activities that are alleged to be operating from Pakistani soil.

Since 1978 takeover by the PDPA in Afghanistan, the refugees have been trekking their way either to Pakistan or Iran. Some have even gone beyond. The major burden of Afghan refugees was borne by Pakistan. As a matter of fact it still continues to host more than a million Afghan refuges. During eighties the number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan somewhere between 3.5 to 4 millions. Most of the refugees have gone back to Afghanistan but a large number still live in Pakistan. Accepting the Afghan request the Pakistanis agreed to give time to new government in Afghanistan in order to stabilise and then secure the return of the refugees gradually.

Confronted with so many problems, Afghanistan is slowly retuning to normalcy. Given the devastation Afghanistan has experienced over two decades, no body expects that things would normalise within short span of time. Nevertheless Afghanistan is striving hard to establish a viable political system as soon as possible. In this connection the meeting of the Afghan Loi Jirga was held which approved Constitution for Afghanistan. Since the constitution approved a presidential system the next major development is the scheduled election of the president. In this connection the enlistment of the eligible voters is well underway.  

Since more than one million Afghan refugees are still in Pakistan and are anxiously awaiting repatriation, to enable them to participate in the elections is somewhat imperative. In this connection Pakistan is fully cooperating with the Afghan authorities. Pakistan also categorically stated that it would undertake stern action against any interference in the forthcoming elections and for any sabotage activities in the election process. 

Pakistan has always been deeply interested in Afghans welfare and has consistently extended its full cooperation. Cognizant of close geographical proximity sharing a long and difficult border stretching over 1400 km, close ethnic linkages, shared historical experiences and trading interaction, both Pakistan and Afghanistan are working hard towards the attainment of closer ties and increasing cooperation in almost all fields.

Pakistan’s actions against the foreign militant elements in the tribal areas are not only meant to curtail their illegal activities but also to ensure peace and security in the area. It is not too fetched to assume that some foreign militant elements may try to enter Afghanistan after feeling the heat on Pakistani side. However the Pakistani forces are engaged in ensuring that both sides of the border are safe and the terrorists are not allowed to enter Afghanistan. However this does not mean that the entire border is effectively plugged and sealed. The activities of both the Talibans and Warlords are also causing headaches for the Kabul regime. Pakistan has undertaken effective measures to check the Talibans activities alleged to have been taking place from their Pakistani hideouts.

Among the other important issues that were discussed include the fate of Pakistani prisoners, Afghan transit trade, regional power grid station, building of airport in Khost, railway linkage from Chaman to Khandhar, curtailing smuggling, intelligence sharing etc. In addition, the Afghan officials informed their Pakistani counterparts that Mazar Sharif-Heart ring road was near completion which could enable Pakistan quick access to Central Asian States.
The official also seemed to have discussed the opening of commercial counsellors in their respective diplomatic establishments.

It was also decided to negotiate a bilateral transportation agreement which could facilitate the movements of trucks across the border.  To further facilitate the traffic between Pakistan and Afghanistan a third route was also discussed. It was reported that the Afghan sides requested their counterparts to build a road between Ghulam Khan and Spin Boldak in order to make the third route operative quickly. In addition it was also agreed to accelerate the ongoing work on projects dealing with health, education and communications. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan also agreed to check smuggling in general and more specifically in the area of drugs, illegal timber etc.

Undoubtedly there is a realisation that the two neighbours need to live in peace and harmony. President Karazai’s recent visit and Pakistan’s warm and cordial response is likely to further strengthen mutual ties. Most Pakistanis don’t doubt the sincerity President Karazai; it is the elements within his cabinet and the American diplomatic representative in Kabul which often throw a spanner in the rapidly improving Pak-Afghan relations. The pledges to remove irritants and to help each other in various field certainly generates optimistic vibes which in turn invariably enables the two countries to cement the existing ties.