US not to attend peace moot in Russia

Pakistan to attend conference; American HR report rejected for not mentioning Indian atrocities in held Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: The Trump administration, known otherwise for its keenness to forge close ties with Moscow, has opted to walk out of a peace conference to be held in Russia on April 14.

Pakistan-China-Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, India and several Central Asian nations are among the invitees to the Moscow conference.

Pakistan will be attending this meeting, which follows a previous one in Moscow last December that pondered over the prevailing situation in Afghanistan and on finding ways and means to reach reconciliation and restore peace in the war-torn country.

It has not been decided whether the Afghan Taliban will sit on the table but Pakistan has been approached to nudge the militants who are, with the snow melting, capturing fresh territory in the landlocked country.

Pakistan is yet to decide whether the new Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua will lead the country’s delegation.

“The decision who will lead the Pakistan delegation will be taken in due course. Pakistan firmly believes in an Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process, aimed at bringing all the warring factions, including the Taliban, to the negotiating table. As regards the outcome, I would like to reiterate that Pakistan constructively participates in these meetings for pursuing lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. We hope the deliberations in this meeting would be focused on this objective," Spokesman at the Foreign Office, remarked at the weekly media briefing.

To several queries regarding Pakistan’s attempts to bring the Taliban to the table, he said this was for the Russians to confirm and Kabul itself was the best judge if it would participate.

Recently, after a meeting between the Afghan and Russian foreign ministers, Kabul announced that they had been assured that Moscow is committed to facilitation of peace in the region.

Meanwhile, the reason given by the State Department for opting out of the Moscow meeting was because there were no consultations with Washington before the invite and the Americans say they are unaware about Russia’s objectives.

Tensions have been rising between Moscow and Washington over the issue of the Afghan Taliban where the Americans blame Russia for giving support to the Taliban.

"These claims are absolutely false," Zamir Kabulov, head of the Russian foreign ministry's department responsible for Afghanistan and Kremlin's special envoy in the country, told RIA Novosti state news agency.

"These fabrications are designed, as we have repeatedly underlined, to justify the failure of the US military and politicians in the Afghan campaign. There is no other explanation."

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, US General Curtis Scaparrotti, who also heads the US military's European Command, told lawmakers in Washington on Thursday that he had witnessed Russia's influence grow in many regions, including in Afghanistan.

In a statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Scaparrotti said Moscow was "perhaps" supplying the Taliban.

Pakistan’s decision to participate in the Moscow meeting comes on the heels of unconfirmed reports about meetings between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan, a common occurrence for decades now.

There has been fence mending between Afghanistan and Pakistan as well, which led to Rawalpindi deciding to open the month-long closed Pak-Afghan border.

The spokesman pointed to the recent meeting in London.

“Adviser Sartaj Aziz met the Afghan NSA on the occasion afforded by the CMAG meeting in UK recently, both sides understood the need to engage constructively and tackle issues of mutual concern, particularly that of cross-border terrorism, and agreed on the need to mutually cooperate in countering the menace of terrorism. An institutionalised mechanism will be instrumental in this fruitful cooperation”, he explained.

Also it is now important for Afghanistan to ponder over Pakistan’s proposal on the need for an institutional mechanism for counter-terrorism cooperation, to which the Afghan side was agreeable. 

“We hope that the two countries will work through the agreed mechanism for cooperation for preventing cross-border terrorism and enhancing bilateral interaction in different areas," said the spokesman.

With regards to the US pointing to Pakistan and Afghanistan as countries where Daesh was trying to recruit people, the spokesman brushed aside these accusations, especially in the case of Pakistan.

“There is no presence of ISIS in Pakistan. The US expressed concern about the ISIS efforts to recruit people from different countries. The recruitment could be done from any country from amongst the vulnerable people. On our part, we are determined to thwart any such attempt by any terrorist organization," he said.

He added that Pakistan has taken great efforts to eliminate terrorism from its roots and have made significant successes. “This is manifest in Pakistan’s improving economic indicators and reduction in terrorist incidents in the country. Our efforts have been recognised by the world leadership, including that of the United States. Many international leaders and experts have witnessed first-hand the successes achieved in Pakistan as a result of counter-terrorism operations," he added.

Meanwhile, the spokesman rejected an American report on human rights with the objection that Indian atrocities in held Kashmir were not mentioned in the report.