Pakistani and Afghan members of the parliament, former officials, members of the civil society and media persons are holding dialogue in Islamabad to give their input as to how to bring the two countries closer.
The meeting is being held when the bilateral relations are at their lowest ebb following terrorist attacks in Pakistan last month which claimed more than 100 lives.
Pakistani security officials insist that those claiming responsibility for the attacks operate from the Afghan side of the border.
Independent groups Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Islamabad and Kabul-based Women & Peace Studies Organisation (WPSO) are organising the “Pakistan-Afghanistan track 1.5 & II project Beyond Boundaries.”
According to CRRS head Imtiaz Gul, the dialogue is aimed at developing an understanding of the identified bilateral issues to help detox narratives, improve public perceptions and mitigate mutual allegations and suspicions.
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The organisers opined that the members act as a bridge between the two governments to ensure the continuation of bilateral conversation and promote and foster people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
The dialogue members are scheduled to hold meetings with senior Pakistani officials including Senate chairman Raza Rabbani, foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz and National Security Adviser Nasir Janjua over the next two days.
Some of the delegates will also speak to students at Quaid-e-Azam university and National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST).
Both sides have already held meetings in Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan, and Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan.
The groups say they will keep consulting with their respective governments on the progress of the previous and newly generated recommendations of “Beyond Boundaries initiative.”
During their dialogue in Kabul last month, Pakistani and Afghan members called on both the countries to exercise restraint in the current situation in the larger interest of the people of the two countries.
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The group also called on both governments to instantly provide counsellor access to prisoners detained in both countries on various charges as this could help provide mutual legal assistance and fair trial to them.
The key Pakistani delegation members taking part in the discussion include members of the parliament Shazia Marri and Ayesha Gulalai, former ambassadors Qazi Humayun and Mian Sanaullah, former corps commander Peshawar Lt General (retd) Asif Yasin and former Sindh and Balochistan police chief Dr Shoaib Suddle.
The eight-member Afghan delegation include members of parliament Elay Ershad and Khalid Pashtoon, head of executive council of the High Peace Council Abdul Hakeem Mujahid, former Deputy Commerce Minister Mozammil Shinwari, former deputy parliamentary speaker Miwais Yasini, civil society activist and WPSO head Wazmah Frogh, TOLO TV Director Sami Mahdi, and Afghan Civil Society Joint Working Group chairperson and Afghan Women News Agency Executive Officer Humira Saqeb.
This article originally appeared in The Express Tribune , March 28, 2017. Original link.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in the article are not necessarily supported by CRSS.