January 10, 2016: A ten-member Afghan delegation comprising members of parliament, politicians, government and former military officials, diplomats and security experts arrived in Islamabad on Sunday, January 10, 2016 for a land-mark series of Track 1.5/2 meetings/ dialogues.
This initiative called “Beyond Boundaries” has been launched by the Center of Research and Security Studies (CRSS) – in partnership with its Afghan counterpart organization, DURAN Research and Analysis (DRA) and sub-national partner (Pakistan), the Foundation for Integrated Development Action (FIDA) – is a major Pakistan-Afghanistan Track 1.5/II dialogue, as part of efforts to help improve relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Beyond Boundaries comprises two working groups, the Regional Security Group, and Civil Society and Youth Group, aimed at facilitating and promoting people-to-people contacts.
The fourth meeting in the series and the second meeting of regional security experts from Pakistan and Afghanistan is taking place from January 12-13, 2016 in Islamabad and has assumed an unusual significance because of the high profile formation of working groups from both sides and the context between the two countries. The arrival of the Afghan Regional Security delegation marks the continuity of dialogue – facilitated by CRSS – between the stakeholders from the two countries to the backdrop of a politically difficult and challenging environment.
The Track 1.5/II is also important because the bilateral relationship has been fraught with mutual mistrust being the proxy battleground for complicated regional relationships. An unstable Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship is fundamentally detrimental to peace and development in the region. Initiatives like Beyond Boundaries will bring together influential government and non-governmental stake-holders who can help lessen tensions, address misconceptions, and revive some level of confidence. More importantly, they will eventually urge both governments and key stakeholders away from the prior behavior of confrontation and an antagonistic-approach towards a more trust and collaborative-based approach for peace, security, and regional cooperation.
The working groups on Regional Security and Civil Society and Youth will address varied themes that are important in the peace process between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is also supposed to build upon existing and increase future people-to-people contact.
The key objectives of the initiative are: expanding the peace constituency through friendship groups in both countries; and improving support for better Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship through dialogue among the influential stakeholders and informing policy makers through consensus recommendations.