Tension persists: No ‘new chapter’ in Pak-Afghan ties

Karzai-Gilani meeting sparks swapping of allegations.


Kamran Yousaf November 11, 2011

VILLINGILI ISLAND, MALDIVES: Efforts to defuse tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan appeared to suffer a setback here on Friday when a meeting between Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Hamid Karzai concluded on a less than positive note.

According to sources, the Afghan president refused to move forward until “Islamabad fully cooperates in the Burhanuddin Rabbani murder probe and takes practical steps to stop violence in his country”.

President Karzai and PM Gilani met in the Shangri-La resort hotel on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in an attempt to repair ties damaged in the aftermath of the killing of Rabbani.

Afghan officials claim that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was behind the killing of the former Afghan president and allege that the suicide bomber was a Pakistani citizen linked with the so-called ‘Quetta Shura’.

The talks, which lasted over an hour, remained tense as both sides tried to hold each other responsible for the current ‘impasse’ in the relationship, a senior Pakistani official, who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune.

“The prime minister began his discussion by expressing regret over the blame game initiated by Afghanistan following the assassination of Rabbani,” said the official, who chose to remain anonymous. “It is unfair that you accuse us publicly,” the official quoted Gilani as telling Karzai.

Another Pakistani said that Afghanistan had linked the normalisation of the relationship to Pakistan fully assisting in Rabbani’s murder probe and steps to stop violence in the country.

He said that Gilani informed Karzai that Islamabad was ready to cooperate in the investigation under the mechanism agreed between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey at the recently held trilateral meeting in Istanbul.

But that was not the only stumbling block – Afghanistan’s belief that Pakistan’s military establishment still enjoys considerable clout over the Taliban is also compounding the situation.

“They (Afghanistan) think the Taliban are in our pockets. They think we are directing them,” the official disclosed.

Gilani plays down strain

The body language of Karzai and Gilani also seemed worrying when they briefly appeared before the media.

“The assassination of Professor Rabbani is indeed a serious setback to the reconciliation process,” the Afghan President said.

Gilani attempted to play down the strain in ties by insisting that the relationship between the two countries was heading in the right direction. He said Rabbani was a friend of Pakistan and his government would extend all possible help in the probe.

‘Positive evaluation’

 

Commenting on the meeting between the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Friday that Pakistan had positively evaluated the talks and welcomed India’s readiness for a broad ranging engagement. A statement issued on Friday quoted Khar as saying that the bilateral summit had contributed to “impel a seriousness of purpose to the process of engagement”.

Khar said the interior secretaries of the two countries had been mandated to discuss measures involving counter-terrorism and added that Interior Minister Rehman Malik was prepared to visit New Delhi.

India reacts to talks

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement describing his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani as a “man of peace” has been received with scepticism by opposition parties in India, reported Express 24/7.

BJP’s Yashwant Sinha said that there is nothing Pakistan has done to warrant the impression that its leadership is serious about tackling the issue.

Nevertheless, in his statement, Singh expressed hope that the current round of talks will lead to peace and harmony between the two countries.

According to reports, the Indian PM has said that his country has decided to move towards a preferential trade agreement with Pakistan.

(Read: Renewed promise of SAARC)

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT BY NEWS DESK)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th,  2011.

COMMENTS (12)

afreen subri | 12 years ago | Reply

Its Pakistan which create problem in south Asia there and there intelligence ISI there are not faithfull to any one. Nor there faithful to Americans nor Chinese nor Indians nor Afghanistan its Pakistan which create problem and cry any one point at them.

rehmat | 12 years ago | Reply

@Zack: "All the head of the State (India Pakistan Afghanistan Iran) should have taken this golden opportunity to sort out things and strategy in this SAARC Summit"

Iran is not a member of SAARC and was not invited. Afghanistan is also not a member of SAARC but was present as an observer. SAARC consists of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Nepal, Maldives, Burma.

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