Pak politicians say ties with Afghanistan on the mend

PESHAWAR: The delegation of three Pakistani politicians has returned home satisfied from a visit to Afghanistan on the invitation of President Dr Ashraf Ghani as they believe the Pak-Afghan relations are on a mend.
“The leadership in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is trying hard to overcome the trust deficit and come closer to each other. Dr Ashraf Ghani wants more interaction with Pakistan and our visit was part of this effort,” explained the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao when asked by The News about his impression of the visit.
He said the Afghan government had initiated measures to deny the use of Afghanistan’s soil for destabilising Pakistan. He added that Pakistan was also taking similar steps.
Sherpao was part of the three-member delegation that spent two days in Kabul and returned to Islamabad on Saturday. The other members of the delegation were Mahmood Khan Achakzai, leader of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) that is ruling Balochistan in a coalition government with the PML-N and the Hasil Bizenjo-led National Party, and the Awami National Party (ANP)’s Senator Afrasiab Khattak. The last-named represented his party head Asfandyar Wali Khan, who reportedly was unwell.
As the delegation members were all Pakhtuns, the language used during the meetings in Kabul was Pashto. It helped in creating a bond between the hosts and the guests.
Sherpao, who is also a member of the National Assembly, said the non-Pashtuns such as the Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdullah, the High Peace Council head Salahuddin Rabbani, former National Assembly Speaker Yunis Qanooni and others are also able to communicate in Pashto and, therefore, they found it convenient to talk in Pashto. “We had no need for a translator or didn’t have to talk in English,” he remarked.
According to Sherpao, the delegation held intensive discussion with President Ghani, Dr Abdullah, former president Hamid Karzai, National

Security Adviser Hanif Atmar, Salahuddin Rabbani and others on all relevant issues for two days. “We were put up at the guesthouse in the Arg (President’s Palace) which is located in the same compound as President Ghani’s offices and the mosque so we didn’t have to go far for most of the meetings,” he added.
The discussion continued over a lunch hosted by President Ghani, a dinner by Dr Abdullah and another one by Karzai. There was one exclusive meeting with the president and a few others in the company of top Afghan leaders. In one larger meeting, more than 30 top Afghan politicians including former ministers and existing MPs such as Shukria Barakzai and Mirwais Yasini, and erstwhile mujahideen leaders were among the invitees. “There was an in-depth discussion on the ways and means to restore peace in Afghanistan and also Pakistan. We exchanged ideas in a spirit of goodwill,” Sherpao recalled.
He said the change of government in Afghanistan and the new thinking in Pakistan in the aftermath of the December 16 terrorist attack on the Army Public School and College in Peshawar had created a conducive atmosphere to increase cooperation between the two neighbouring countries for restoring peace and stability in the region.
When asked about the likely visit by Dr Abdullah to Pakistan as Afrasiab Khattak disclosed in one of his tweets, Sherpao said Dr Abdullah told their delegation that he would undertake the trip when the two sides agree on the dates.
It may be added that Dr Abdullah paid a number of visits to Pakistan as Afghanistan’s foreign minister and as head of the peace jirga that had tried to put an end to violence in the Af-Pak region. However, he hasn’t paid a visit to Pakistan for some time now. His only overseas visit after taking up the job as Chief Executive Officer in the unity government with President Ghani was to Europe to attend the Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels and the donors’ conference in London.
In reply to a question about any tangible progress in Pakistan’s offer to train Afghan military officers and equip and arm a brigade of the Afghan National Army, the QWP leader said President Ghani had in principle agreed to avail the offer though the modalities need to be worked out to start the process. Regarding the agreement made during President Ghani’s visit to Pakistan to remove the hurdles in the smooth functioning of the Afghan transit trade, Sherpao said President Ghani had pointed out that they were waiting for Islamabad to start implementing the terms of the accord.