As part of strategic sideline meetings with the government leaders to take them on board for the Pak-Afghan Track 1.5/11initiative “Beyond Boundaries” and share the policy recommendations generated from the PAJC bilateral dialogue, the Beyond Boundaries visiting six member high level Afghan delegation and some members of Pakistan delegation along with the CRSS team held a meeting with the Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs MoFA), Mr. Sohail Mahmood at MoFA on Friday 13 March, 2020. Additional Secretary Afghanistan/Iran & Turkey, Mr. Safdar Hayat, DG Afghanistan Mr. Asif Hussain Memon, and Director Afghanistan Mr. Asad Abbas were also present in the meeting.
Foreign Secretary (FS) Sohail Mahmood welcomed the Afghan delegation stating that he cannot stress enough on the importance of such track 2 dialogues. He further said that we- Pakistan and Afghanistan- are so connected in many ways and commonalities, we also know the challenges, but I hope we can find a way where both countries can benefit from. He then requested the Afghan delegation to share their views and concerns not only on the peace process but overall, on Pak-Afghan bilateral relations.
Mozammil Shinwari, former Deputy Minister for Trade and Head of OESP told the FS that we are thankful to Pakistan for facilitating the peace process and for facilitating the Afghan refugees. We hope Pakistan would continue its support. He said that the duration of visas for Afghans visiting Pakistan has been extended from 30 days to 60 days, which is a positive step. Pakistan has said that they will make the visa issuance process easier too. A liberalized visa regime is very critical for trade and economic relations. For Afghan transit trade the easier way and route remains through Pakistan. We hope that APAPPS will further strengthen the relations and strengthen trust between both governments.
Fawzia Koofi, former Parliamentarian and Head of Afghan delegation stated that we need to use the momentum created by peace process. Work on easier visa regime so that more Afghans can come to Pakistan. There are more than 1000 scholarships per year for Afghan students by Pakistan, I hope this can increase further.
Saleem Kunduzi, former Governor Nangarhar told the FS that our track II forum had very good discussions in detail on all bilateral issues, but we focused on people-to-people contacts at all levels. He further said that there is no doubt that thousands of Afghans have studied from Pakistan and are now working in Afghanistan. Regarding the peace process, he said that we expect that Pakistan would continue its role to make the process smooth. We can use this opportunity to strengthen our bilateral ties.
The Foreign Secretary in his remarks said that please pay attention to the official communiqué that we make: “We reaffirm our support for a sovereign, democratic, peaceful, peaceful, united and prosperous Afghanistan”; and we mean every word of it. Please also pay close attention to the Prime Minister’s vision he has been affirming that there is no military solution, and Pakistan will support a political dialogue and settlement. Now that the process has reached its fruition in the form of the peace deal, the intra-Afghan dialogue is a big opportunity which should be used. If all Afghan leaders should come together for a settlement of the Afghan political process, it will be an inclusive political set up. We support a comprehensive and inclusive political set up. This is a historical moment which should be seized, but be vary of the spoilers, the Afghans should take ownership of the situation.
He further told the Afghan delegation: “We on behalf of Pakistan government extend our full support and I cannot emphasize this enough. We remain very committed to APAPPS and its five working groups, which are extremely important tracks of our relationship”. We re-activated the APAPPs last year. The next APAPPS was scheduled in Kabul, unfortunately it got postponed and later cancelled due to political situation in Afghanistan. We hope that we can have this meeting in Kabul rescheduled as soon as we have further clarity in Kabul.
While the Afghans are doing their part, it is important that the international community does its part too, such as post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation as well. Speaking on refugees, he said: “Pakistan for forty years has opened their hearts and there was never any discrimination between citizens of Pakistan and Afghanistan, there was never any issue between host communities and the refugees. We have pushed our efforts at the highest level”.
The Foreign Secretary while shedding light on trade and economic relations, stated that we think strong economic and trade relations will strengthen the bilateral ties. Economic relations and connectivity are in the best interest of both countries. We hope that in the coming months the APTTA agreement will proceed for discussion and revision.
The FS further told the delegates that Pakistan has allocated funds for the human development and capacity building through building of schools and hospitals, and in addition there are 6000 scholarships.
In his concluding remarks, FS Mahmood said that our political and military institutions and leadership are fully geared towards a prosperous Afghanistan and we want our Afghan brothers to reciprocate in a constructive manner. Let me on behalf the government reiterate Pakistan’s steadfast support for Afghan peace and reconciliation process. He further underscored commitment to expand fraternal ties with Afghanistan at all levels, particularly at the people-to-people level.
At the end of the meeting the head of Pakistan delegation, Dr. Shoaib Suddle presented and shared the joint declaration of policy recommendations with the Foreign Secretary, formulated from the PAJC bilateral dialogue/meeting held on 12 March.
