CRSS, in partnership with its Afghan partner Organization for Economic Studies and Peace (OESP), has started the fourth phase of the track 1.5/II project Beyond Boundaries from May 2020, which will run through March 2021. CRSS and OESP will oversee the development of activities between Pakistan and Afghanistan, building on the successes and lessons learnt from CRSS’s major Pakistan-Afghanistan track 1.5/II – Beyond Boundaries I, II & III – with the objective to improve and sustain the political relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the previous three phases – spanning from October 2015 to March 2020, the project involved enhanced dialogue of the committed group of Pak-Afghan influencers including parliamentarians, security experts, retired civil and military bureaucrats, civil society and media leaders – on key bilateral issues – for policy recommendations and engagement with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, key stakeholders and public diplomacy to contribute to changes of government policy and public perceptions that improve the relationship.
CRSS, alongside OESP, will lead on coordinating meetings and conferences between key political influencers in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The project will continue to have the established mechanism of Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Committee (PAJC) made up of a pool of security experts, parliamentarians, civil society and business/media representatives from both Pakistan and Afghanistan, who have the ability to engage with and influence Government stakeholders. In addition, the project now also has a component of Women Leaders exchanges and Youth Summits to engage the women and youth from both countries. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, many of these meetings will be held virtually until the pandemic subsides. Over the period of this project, meetings and workshops held will discuss contentious issues and themes including political security, bilateral and regional economic cooperation, refugees, challenges posed by COVID-19, education, natural resource management, trade, sports and the arts.
