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Pakistan is Committed to the Peace Process, Pakistani Envoy in Kabul
The visiting Pakistani delegation of the third regional security workshop, Beyond Boundaries, met with Syed Abrar Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan on Sunday, February 28, 2016 at the Embassy premises. The Ambassador gave run-down of the bilateral talks as well as the developments since the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) peace mechanism came into being on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in December 2015 at Islamabad. “Peace process; though a long procedure, lengthy and tedious but the only solution to bring peace and stability”, the ambassador said while stressing that talks should not be scuttled by the spoilers and those who are opposed to peace in Afghanistan and the region. He pointed out that securing Taliban’s commitment, bringing them on table for dialogue was the joint responsibility of all four stakeholders in the QCG (Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States). “Pakistan is committed to the peace process and will undertake all possible efforts for collective peace in the region”, he added. Underscoring the need for CBMs to lend credibility to the dialogue, the ambassador said that the dialogue should be result-oriented with meaningful talks on the peace agenda. “The media and journalists can play an enormously significant role in improving the perceptions on both sides and thus, both governments should help facilitate interactions between them”, said the ambassador while highlighting the role of media in the peace talks as a solution to the issues of acrimony and mistrust. Pakistan has - publically - several times reiterated its resolve for afghan peace process. Its sincere efforts for regional peace and friendship should not be maligned by anyone. Pakistan stresses talks so that the reconcilable and irreconcilables are identified.
Sabawoon Showcase: Lack of Female Participation in the Social Decision Making Process
March 2, 2016, Peshawar: The Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) flagship radio program Sabawoon’s latest episode was about the lack of women’s participation in the decision making processes in our daily life. The program discussed the isolation of females from the Jarga system, role of females in household chores, lack of access to basic rights, dearth of information on said rights. The program also discussed the role of elected females in national and provincial level legislation, pressures on women in social decision making, exclusion of women from political and public leadership, and lack of family support for females to contribute in the workforce. The program, under the theme of “Jwandey Jazbey” (alive spirits), was aired on Wednesday. Ms. Shumaila Khan, president Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Students’ Organization Female Wing, participated as the studio guest in the program. A field report from district Swat was included in the program. The report accentuated the findings of the first session of a Swat-based women’s assembly. Ms. Najma Gul, member of this Swat assembly, said, “We the females are always facing hurdles, inside the home and outside. It seems that we have to solve all these problem by ourselves, because others are not interested in solving our problems.” The speaker of the assembly, Ms. Sajida Iftikhar, said, “In national and provincial assemblies most of the females are selected on reserves seats. They don’t have any input in the legislation process that ultimately brings male dominated laws. Women need to take an active part in politics so that we can come up with some positive legislation for females.” Ms. Tabassum Adnan, member of Swat assembly, said, “This was our first session, all the findings and recommendations will be forwarded to pronvicial and national assemblies for necessary actions. I hope this platform will help to empower women with their basic rights at least.” Ms. Shumaila Khan, President FATA...
We Want Policy Changes, Not Hospitals, Afghan Dy. Foreign Minister
We don’t need hospitals or roads from Pakistan. We need those policies to change which have caused destruction in the past decades and continue to do so, Hikmet Karzai, Afghanistan’s deputy foreigner minister told a delegation on the sidelines of a Pak-Afghan Track11/1.5 in Kabul; Beyond Boundaries an initiative launched by an Islamabad based Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) - in partnership with its Afghan counterpart organization, DURAN Research and Analysis (DRA). No amount of funding, dams or hospitals will help the bilateral relationship as much a perceptible change in the policies that have harmed Pakistan as much as Afghanistan and we need to collectively fight the consequences of those policies, he underlined. Hikmet Karzai also acknowledged that as of now, Pakistan has been forthcoming as far as its commitment to the peace process within the QCG framework was concerned. For us state to state relations are the most important as long as this is based on respect for our sovereignty and commitment to fight all those elements that are killing our innocent people. Karzai pointed out that although the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) rests on respective roles of all four stakeholders, Pakistan’s role is the most critical in the reconciliation process. As the QCG about to kick off with high expectations attached to it, Karzai said, it offers us an opportunity to tell the new generation that Pakistan is playing an important role in the reconciliation efforts through. “Pakistan has the leverage and influence with Taliban leaders which we expect it to use. We also expect that the leverage needs to be used against all those elements who the QCG members feel are not amenable to peace in Afghanistan,” Karzai told the delegates. His remarks came a few hours after Pakistan’s advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz for the first time publicly admitted that the Afghan Taliban’s leadership enjoys a safe haven inside his country Speaking at the Council...
Afghan Minister Thanks Beyond Boundaries for Endorsing QCG
Hikmet Karzai, Afghanistan’s deputy foreigner minister has thanked Pak-Afghan Track11/1.5 initiative Beyond Boundaries for endorsing the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) peace process. In a meeting with the members of the Beyond Boundaries at the sprawling lawns of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 2 where they presented the joint declaration from their third Regional Security Workshop, Karzai said his government welcomes initiatives such as Beyond Boundaries. “We are extremely grateful to the members for fully endorsing the QCG process which we believe is the last big chance for peace in the next two or so decades,” the minister said. He also underlined the importance of Track 11 discussions. “And trust me, we highly value these efforts. I make sure that my colleagues also go through the recommendations coming from such private discussions.” I personally believe that declarations agreed on at the end of such initiatives should feed policy making because this is the only way we can collectively understand and solve problems, the minister added. Speaking of the QCG efforts, he said “none of is under any illusion, The process will be difficult and long, accompanied by violence, but gradual progress, we expect, will also result in reduction of violence. The QCG came into being on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference held at Islamabad on December 9, 2015. This includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States and China - the latter being the monitors/guarantors of the process. “Our expectation, nevertheless is that the process brings about some reduction in high-profile violence otherwise I will loose my legitimacy as a peace negotiator,” Karzai underscored, in a reminder of the continued spate of violence - as many as 18 big strikes across Afghanistan that have killed about nearly people since early January, including members of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Karzai agreed that Pakistan’s image in Afghanistan is negative but argued it had a...
Clouds Over The Peace Process
by Imtiaz Gul Sunny Kabul is abuzz with diplomatic activity. One the one hand, the National Unity Government (NUG) is striving hard to get the reconciliation process going with lots of behind-the-scenes contacts between various stakeholders. On the other, immediate neighbours such as Pakistan, India as well as other members of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), have intensified their efforts for getting Taliban leaders on board. The visit of the Chief of the Peoples’ Liberation Army, General Fang Fenghui also underscores the increasing Chinese interest in Afghanistan’s peace. The NUG itself appears optimistic about the peace process, hoping that sooner than later, influential Taliban, amenable to renouncing violence, will step forward to join the talks in the larger interests of the embattled country. But if the media reports of the last few days were any guide, the intra-Afghan peace talks are up against multiple internal and external challenges. There has been a surge in Taliban attacks — as many as 17 strikes across Pakistan that have killed about 80 people since early January, including members of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) — alongside increasingly conflicting views on the peace process within the National Unity Government – reflected in the pro-Karzai and pro-Ghani camps. The Karzai camp still looms large over the Afghan political scene; the former president is revered by the majority as the ‘Rahbar’ – supreme leader — and politically, he is looked up to as a national leader. One difficulty comes from the ‘reformed’ Taliban leaders such as Mullah Zaeef, former ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Wakeel Muttawakil, former foreign minister, Mulla Habib Fauzi, Said, Akbar Agha, Abdul Salam Raketi. Zaeef, who abhors Pakistan for the treatment meted out to him after the demise of Taliban regime, for instance, sits in Kabul, interacts with media but has no kind words about the QCG efforts. His recipe for the reconciliation process is direct contacts...
Tale of Two Cpecs
by Dr. Niaz Murtaza A game changer that will make Pakistan an Asian Tiger is how the PML-N sells the CPEC. None of the Tigers rose simply by building corridors with economic giants. So, one must view such claims cautiously. Still, this is the biggest economic opportunity to come Pakistan’s way in decades. That this is happening under an elected regime and autocracies could never conjure similar feats underlines democracy’s long-term potential. The PML-N deserves kudos for creating this opportunity. But the critical question now is whether it can transform opportunities into reality. One feels compelled to raise some concerns, at the risk of being branded unpatriotic even though the aim is patriotic in flagging possible pitfalls affecting attainment. Firstly, project details reveal that around $11 billion (25%) of the money is for port, road and railway linkages between Pakistan and China. But the vast majority of the money-nearly 75%- is for power plants which will not directly contribute to the economic corridor unless they feed industries whose outputs travel on the corridor. However, CPEC plans only contain vague references to establishing industrial parks. Thus, there is not one integrated CPEC but actually two unconnected CPECs presently: the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (25%) and China Pakistan Electricity Cooperation (75%). Unless PML-N integrates the two, the chances of Pakistan becoming an Asian Cub, nary a Tiger, will be remote, though the two unconnected CPECs will still benefit it individually. The “China Pakistan Electricity Cooperation” contains 24 projects, as shown on the Planning Commission’s website, to be built by Chinese companies’ FDI with Pakistan obligated to buy their output at unknown rates. Thus, the first challenge will be avoiding the exorbitant rates Pakistan faced earlier with IPPs and weaker states often face with China. Given the serious logistical and technical problems with recent power plant construction in Pakistan,...
Beyond Boundaries
Experts Call for Greater Counter-Terror Cooperation. Participants of a Pakistan-Afghanistan Track 11 dialogue Tuesday urged both governments to continue their efforts for peace and increase counter-terror and security cooperation. Joint efforts are needed to crush terrorism which is a common enemy of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The delegates also extended their support to the Quadrilateral Coordination Group which is pushing for the intra-Afghan reconciliation. The ice-breaking engagement between Afghanistan and Pakistan at both official and private level must continue to help remove the bilateral trust. Mutually agreeable confidence building measures could help in achieving these objectives. Statements hurting the sentiments must be avoided by both sides. The civil society should put pressure on stakeholders to pursue mutual peace & prosperity. Media on both sides could play a crucial role in correcting the narrative on each other, the delegates concurred and called on both governments to help facilitate Afghan and Pakistani media’s reporting from their respective regions. These views were presented by Pakistani and Afghan regional security experts during their third regional security workshop held from February 29 to March 01, 2016 at Kabul, Afghanistan. The workshop was the sixth major round in the series of meetings between civil society and regional security experts of both countries as part of “Beyond Boundaries”, a major Af-Pak track 1.5 and II initiative launched by an Islamabad based Center for 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) as an effort to improve relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, soothe bitter context, tackle trust deficit which can somehow de-escalate the heightened tensions and improve mutual perceptions. The sessions, chaired by Professor Anatol...
CRSS China Watch – March 01, 2016
While addressing to the participants of an International Medical Conference in Lahore, President Mamnoon Hussain has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a potential game changer that would bring prosperity into Pakistan’s socio-economic fabric. He said yesterday that apart from the CPEC, the government has initiated numerous mega projects across the country.[1] Referring to the CPEC, Deputy Chairman of the Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said that the project would change the destiny of the region. He criticized Baluchistan’s government that failed to solve problems being faced by people and urged the federal government to address reservations the provinces had about the eastern and western routes of the project. [2] The ambassador of Ukraine VolodymyrLakomov addressed media in Islamabad and asserted that Ukrainian companies are interested to invest in projects under the CPEC that would further strengthen long term bilateral cooperation. [3] Former Federal Minister Anwar Saifullah and Former Senator SalimSaifullah have regretted that the southern districts had been ignored in development of the country. They urged to include the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the CPEC project which would provide an opportunity for the uplift of these areas.[4] [1]http://www.radio.gov.pk/newsdetail/83005/1 [2]http://www.dawn.com/news/1242633/centre-asked-to-remove-concerns-about-cpec [3]http://www.radio.gov.pk/newsdetail/83059/1 [4]http://www.thenews.com.pk/print/101648-Inclusion-of-southern-KP-districts-in-CPEC-sought
In Kabul, Scepticism Clouds Direct Talks
by Tahir Khan There is considerable uncertainty in Afghanistan regarding the fate of an intra-Afghan dialogue despite a certain degree of optimism about the long-awaited peace process. Afghan officials familiar with a four-nation initiative told The Express Tribune that negotiations could be a long-drawn-out affair, adding that expecting the talks to start in a few days was an unfair assessment. A source, meanwhile, denied Afghan officials have shared with Pakistan a list of ‘influential’ Taliban leaders that Kabul wants to see at the negotiating table. During its fourth meeting on February 23 in Kabul, the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) had invited Taliban factions and Hizb-e-Islami, the second largest Afghan resistance group, to join the talks by the first week of March in Islamabad. The QCG is made up of top officials from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States. Sources in Kabul said on Sunday the QCG members that approached the Taliban’s political office in Qatar had informed the meeting that the militia was ‘not very keen’ on joining the proposed talks. The QCG meeting in Islamabad had agreed on February 6 to approach the main Taliban faction in Qatar and the splinter group under Mullah Rasool’s command for their feedback to the participants of the Kabul meeting. “The US ambassador in Kabul, who represented his country at the fourth QCG meeting, told participants that he had received no briefing from Washington,” a source, who attended the meeting, told The Express Tribune. “The Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan informed the meeting that they had contacted the Taliban representatives in Qatar, but while they seemed unwilling to join the talks, they did not refuse outright to join the process.” He said Pakistan had talked to Taliban’s political representatives “but they are not keen on sitting across the table with Kabul. The Afghan side also confirmed they have sent messages to Taliban groups and Hizb-e-Islami, but they are still awaiting...
Brink of Change
by Zeeshan Salahuddin How did Pakistan do in 2015? Pakistan seems to be perched at the verge of a dramatic turnabout that will forever alter its conditions internally, its perception externally, and its future historically. Data from 2015, gathered by the Center for Research and Security Studies, suggests a sharp decline in violence across Pakistan. Fatalities have decreased significantly, and the overwhelming majority – over 62% – of those killed in the violence were militants, insurgents and criminals. This remarkable change is visible even in Karachi. In 2013, target killing was rampant, claiming 1,671 lives. A year later, the deaths dropped by about 25% to 1,263. In 2015, the number dropped by an astonishing 71%, to only 387 fatalities. Economically, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was hailed as a lifesaver. With a massive investment of $46 billion, Beijing seemed to emerge as a savior, willing to drag Pakistan into a new era of economic prosperity and global fraternity. The failure of domestic economic policies and problems with the tax net notwithstanding, CPEC was lauded as a concept, but criticized for its apparent lack of transparency. On the regional relations side, there was an ostensible thaw in ties with India in December. It all began with Ashraf Ghani’s remarks at the Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad, and a subsequent presser in Kabul, reiterating his desire to engage with Pakistan. Later that month, following Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to the same conference, the Indian premier made an unprecedented, unscheduled visit to Lahore, furthering the idea that the two countries wanted to return to some semblance of normalcy. But a lot of the progress made in 2015 seems to have been undone as the second month of 2016 draws to a close. First, despite continued success in the FATA military offensive, reconciliation with the Baloch nationalists, and the urban pacification in Karachi, Interior Minister Chaudhry...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.