The second meeting of Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Committee (PAJC) under the CRSS, SW & OESP-led project Beyond Boundaries phase III, was held at Islamabad on 26 February, 2018. Importantly on Afghan Refugees prevailing situation the UNHCR Representative Ms. Ruven Mendikwela briefed the PAJC on the trilateral negotiations with the two governments. Later in the afternoon session Federal Minister for States & Frontier Regions (SAFRON), Lt. Gen (retd) Abdul Quadir Baloch briefed the PAJC groups on Government of Pakistan’s (GoP) position. Minister Baloch informed the dialogue members that GoP has not found any evidence of the refugees being involved in terrorism and suicide attacks, contrary to media speculations.
At the outset the Pakistani participants condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Kabul, and offered heartfelt condolences to the victims and bereaved families.
The PAJC held detailed discussions on the current status of bilateral relations, particularly refugees and bilateral and transit trade as well as issues of peace and security, and visa regime concessions.
The meeting was preceded by the SW, CRSS, and PAJCCI “Pak- Afghan Economic Connectivity Meeting 2018” held from 22 to 24 February, 2018, which supplemented the work of Beyond Boundaries’ previous rounds of meetings.
The PAJC unanimously agreed and urged their governments:
Refugees
- To maintain as far as possible the principle that the refugee issue should be treated as a humanitarian issue, and hence not to be politicized.
- To work together with the UNHCR and other UN-agencies to establish a realistic timetable for voluntary return of Afghan refugees with dignity, safety and honor
- To take appropriate capacity building measures, both at Islamabad Embassy and Peshawar Consulate to cope with issues such as issuing passports and travel documents to all those Afghans desiring to return to Afghanistan
- To enhance intra-agency and intra-governmental coordination to chart out dignified and gradual timeframe for return of refugees
- To ensure security of investment by Afghan refugees including assets, properties and businesses by providing enough timeframe to respective refugees and their families
Trade
- To segregate business and trade ties from political and security tensions
- To rejuvenate Pak-Afghan trade, both bilateral and transit, concrete action plan may be jointly worked out in coordination with business community and other stakeholders
- To hold the stalled APTTCA and JEC meetings as soon as possible to offset the declining trend in trade volume
- To offer and sign Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Afghanistan in order to address the current impediments in bilateral trade
Peace and Security
- To continue government to government engagement for expeditious finalization of working coordination groups to promote bilateral and regional security and economic development
- To consider early materialization of agreed ministerial visits and other high level meetings, including SAFRON, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Commerce as well as Military level contacts and intelligence sharing
- To avoid element of negativity in statements by national leaders at international fora, instead focus on joint strategy conducive to regional peace and security
Visa Regime
- To issue business visas to traders and businessmen exempted from police reporting to facilitate their hotel reservations, visits to local firms and partners, and to avoid harassment
- To request Pakistan embassy in Kabul not insist on presentation of “Tazkira” and its English attested translation while processing visa applications