Aziz to tell Afghan leaders to stop slurring Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will visit Kabul today (Friday) where he will deliver a decisive two-point message to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, his Afghan counterpart Hanif Atmaar and Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, asking them to immediately stop all anti-Pakistan propaganda and return to peace talks with the Taliban.
“Afghanistan has to stop anti-Pakistan remarks and carry out measures to build trust,” a senior official involved with Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan confided.
Aziz will also attend the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan.
“Our message will be very clear. We believe reconciliation is still the best way. Pursuing military route will have destructive consequences for both Pakistan and Afghanistan. We want to determine whether Afghan leaders have made up their mind to start talks about whether they will continue fighting the Taliban or resume peace talks,” said the senior official.
The first and last round of peace talks with the Afghan Taliban was held a month ago and since then bilateral relations have hit a new low.
Ashraf Ghani has vowed that Pakistan would be allowed no role as far as the reconciliation process is concerned.
“Peace and stability in Afghanistan lies in intra-Afghan dialogue therefore Kabul has to sit in second round of peace talks with the Taliban and other groups”, added the official.
Ever since the announcement of Mullah Omar’s death and cancellation of second round of peace talks, militant and terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan have increased drastically.
Pakistan’s clear message comes just two days after Ashraf Ghani in a ‘harsh-worded press release from his office and aware of Aziz visit said the main difference between the two countries was the presence of Afghan terrorist groups inside Pakistan including the Haqqani network.
“Sartaj Aziz’s claims of dismantling infrastructure are merely repetition of decades-old claims. The leadership, command and control, support infrastructure and sanctuaries of Haqqani and other terrorist groups are inside Pakistan,” he alleged.
Ghani added that the recent measures by the UN to condition its military assistance in exchange for Pakistan assistance to the Haqqani network testifies to the Afghan position. He was hinting at the recent US National Security Adviser Susan Rice’s visit in which she had given this ultimatum to Islamabad.
However, the Pakistani official responded: “We reject these assertions because they have not presented any evidence to substantiate their claims,” and added that 80 per cent insurgency in Afghanistan originated from inside that country.
The official said Pakistan’s concern for an end to anti-Pakistan propaganda was crucial because Kabul’s policies had now seen that the security of Pakistan’s diplomats is at risk and they are now confined inside the embassy fearful of stepping out.
This is in stark contrast to the freedom that the Afghan ambassador and his staff have in Islamabad where they move at will.
To a query, the official admitted that the agreement on security and counter-terrorism between the intelligence agencies of both the countries was now a dead document because it was not approved by the Afghan Parliament.