Islamabad, Kabul to take up border dispute

July 26 meeting aims to prevent border clashes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan will hold next week the first meeting of the joint technical working group under a high-level consultation mechanism for coordination on border management and related security issues. The meeting is scheduled for July 26 in Kabul.

The two countries agreed to form a high-level bilateral mechanism headed by foreign ministers last month when Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz held talks with the Afghan foreign minister at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tashkent.

Apart from foreign ministers, the bilateral mechanism also includes meeting between the national security advisers from the two sides.

The expert level meeting to be led by Pakistan’s director general military operations and his Afghan counterpart will formulate terms of references(ToRs) for the bilateral consultation mechanism on border management and issues related to security.

The bilateral consultation mechanism was formed after tensions between the two countries escalated in June when Pakistan started implementing new border controls at one of the key border crossings in Khyber Agency.

Afghan security forces resorted to ‘unprovoked firing’ in an attempt to stop Pakistani military from constructing a gate at Torkham border leaving a major dead and several others wounded.

Officials hoped the new mechanism would prevent recurrence of border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Once the working group finalises ToRs, the maiden meeting of the bilateral mechanism will be convened, officials added.

The latest move comes at a time when relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached their lowest ebb. Kabul continues to accuse Islamabad for doing little to stop Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network from launching attacks across the border.

At a recent Nato summit, both Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah launched a scathing criticism against Pakistan and said the country ‘still differentiates between the good and bad Taliban.’

Ghani also insisted that his administration would no more seek peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, who have intensified their violent campaign in the recent months.

However, Pakistan is still adamant that an all-inclusive Afghan reconciliation is the only way forward to bring long-term peace and stability in the war-torn country.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2016.