A Nine member Pakistani delegation comprising senior security officials, members of parliament and media arrived in Kabul on Sunday December 20th, for the first round of meetings as part of a series of seven Track 1.5/II meetings between Afghan and Pakistani Security Sector Stakeholders and civil society leaders.
This initiative titled –“Beyond Boundaries” – supported by the British Government is undertaken by Center of Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in partnership with Duran Research & Analysis (Afghanistan) and the Foundation for Integrated Development Action (FIDA). The project “Beyond Boundaries” has been launched as part of the efforts to help connect civil society and security stakeholders of both countries, improve relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The process comprises two working groups, the Regional Security Group, and Regional Civil Society Group, aimed at facilitating and promoting people-to-people contacts.
The working groups on Regional Security and Regional Civil Society will address varied themes that are important in the peace process between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is also meant to build upon existing people to people relations and increase future contacts by building synergies and partnerships.
The key objectives of the initiative are: expanding the peace constituency through friendship groups in both countries; improving support for better Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship through dialogue among the influential stakeholders; and informing policy makers through consensus recommendations.
The Regional Civil Society Group has had two round of talks, in Islamabad (November 2015) and Kabul (December 2015).
The third in a series of seven meetings marks the first meeting of the Regional Security between senior security and parliamentary stakeholders from both countries.
These talks are taking place at a time of increased hope for mutual cooperation, particularly in the economic arena, especially after the Heart of Asia Conference hosted by Pakistan in early December and the signing of the TAPI Pipeline in Turkmenistan.
The inaugural session was addressed jointly by Director General of Regional Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs Government of Afghanistan Ms. Roya Rahmani, Ambassadors of United Kingdom HE Karen Pierce, and Ambassador of Pakistan HE Sayed Abrar Hussain. The panelists included Mr. Qutbuddin Helal, Presidential Advisor on Peace, and Mr. Mohammad Nateqi, Senior Advisor to Chief Executive’s 2nd Deputy. Professor Anatol Leiven of Georgetown University chaired the session. Other high profile diplomats and notables included Ambassador of Turkey HE Ali Seyit Akin, Ambassador for His Highness the Agha Khan HE Nurjehan Mawani, Ambassador of Egypt HE Mohab Nasr, Ambassador of OIC HE Aydin Nurhan, Deputy Ambassador of the Russian Federation H.E. Andrey Vadov, Deputy Ambassador of France HE Philippe Merlin, Canadian Charge d’ Affaires HE Scott Slessor, and Political Counsellors of Norway and Germany. The inaugural session was also attended by several security and civil society leaders as well as media representatives from Afghanistan.
Addressing the panel, Ms. Rahmani thanked the organizers for the great initiative and emphasized on the need to think out of the box, capitalize on our shared interests and work towards mutual cooperation. Closing her remarks she assured of Afghan Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ full support to this dialogue process.
Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan HE Sayed Abrar Hussain welcomed the initiative and underlined the role of track 1.5 and II dialogues as these in bringing countries together. He expressed delight in the successful Heart of Asia Conference (09 December) in Islamabad and the signing of TAPI and underlined the special relations of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He reiterated Pakistan’s willingness to support the peace process and facilitate it, and restated PM Nawaz’ statement that the National Unity Government is the only legitimate representative of the people of Afghanistan. He further added that Pakistan wants to see a stable, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan and called on delegates to maintain a spirit of cooperation instead of blame game. Answering one of the questions raised by the guests, Ambassador Hussain said, “We want intelligence sharing and those who oppose this are not our friends.”
United Kingdom Ambassador HE Karen Pierce welcomed the initiative and expressed that as a friend of Afghanistan and Pakistan, UK is a keen observer of the peace negotiations between the two countries. She equally took delight in the successful Heart of Asia Conference of early December and underlined the importance of the statement that came from Pakistan on Afghanistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the National Unity Government being the sole legitimate representative of the Afghan people. She noted that there is a need to translate these statements into a practical process. She added that this proxy war has hurt far too many people in both countries. People in Pakistan faced it in the form of the APS attack in Peshawar and Afghan people feel it on daily basis; she called for a real process to bring peace. She further added that Afghanistan is both a Central Asian and a South Asian country, and the role of Central Asia is incredibility important.
Mr. Helal called TAPI a turning point and project of peace and stability and called for its timely completion. Mr. Nateqi, confirming the significance of TAPI, emphasized on the importance of peace talks between the two countries.
The 9-member Pakistani delegation is headed by Ms. Shazia Marri (MNA-PPP). Other members include Lt. Gen (retd.) Asif Yasin Malik (Former Secretary Defense), Lt. Gen (retd.) Waheed Arshad Chaudhry (Former Chief of General Staff), Dr. Syiad Ghazi Gulab Jamal (MNA-FATA), Ayesha Gulalai Wazir (MNA-PTI), Dr. Shoaib Suddle (Former Inspector General Police- Sindh), Rozi Khan Kakar (Senator-PPP), Abbas Sarfaraz Khan (Former Federal Minister) and Mr. Muhammad Tahir (Journalist – Editor NNI). The Pakistani delegation is also accompanied by senior journalist Mr. Imtiaz Gul who is the Executive Director of Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).
The Afghan Delegation includes Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi (Former Chief of Staff, Afghan National Army), Gen. Javed Kohistani (Senior Military Analyst), Mr. Abbas Noyan (Former Member of Parliament), Mr. Ahmad Saeedi (Former Diplomat), Ms. Elay Ershad (Former Member of Parliament), Mr. Fahim Dashty (Chief Executive, Afghanistan National Journalists Union), Ms. Fawzia Koofi (Member of Parliament), Mr. Nisar Haress (Senator representing Kabul), Ms. Shukria Barakzai (Former Member of Parliament/Afghanistan’s Ambassador designate to Norway), Mr. Qutbuddin Helal (Presidential Advisor on Peace) and Mr. Mohammad Nateqi (Member of Afghan Peace delegation to Pakistan).