Review of Pakistan’s Afghan policy sought

The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday called for a review of Pakistan’s Afghan policy in the wake of the attitude of the Taliban government in Kabul towards Islamabad as seen during recent weeks and months.

The committee met at the Parliament House with Chairman Farooq Hamid Naek in the chair. The committee received a briefing from Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed on several issues, including the recent attack on the Pakistan Embassy building in Kabul.

“We became spokespersons for Afghanistan in the world, but the Afghan government often opposes Pakistan,” Naek said, adding that Pakistan stood by Afghanistan even against the wishes of the Western countries, but Afghanistan did not value this support.

“Afghanistan always trains its gun at Pakistan,” he added.

Expressing serious concerns over the recent assassination attempt on the Pakistan head of mission in Kabul, Naek told the meeting that India was hostile towards Pakistan but the skirmishes on the border were not as frequent as those with Afghan forces.

“There is a dire need to review Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan.”

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed told the committee that Islamabad wanted peace and stability in Afghanistan because the atmosphere of tension there also affected Pakistan as well. He admitted that managing Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan was a difficult challenge.

Majeed briefed the committee regarding the murderous attack on the Pakistani envoy in Kabul. He said that the outlawed Islamic State-Khorasan had claimed responsibility for the attack, adding that the Afghan government had assured that the people involved in the incident would not be spared.

The secretary said that Pakistan Ambassador Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani was walking in the embassy garden when a volley of shots were fired at him earlier this month. “Eight sniper shots and hundreds of bullets were fired, but the Pakistani ambassador miraculously survived,” he added.

The secretary revealed that a security guard of the embassy was hit by two bullets and was shifted to Peshawar by helicopter.

According to the Afghan officials, the foreign secretary said, the sniper had been captured and investigation was ongoing.

Meanwhile, the chair expressed its anguish at the complaints of harassment of the Pakistan community in Rwanda by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Naek said Pakistan had on-arrival visa facility in Rwanda, yet the FIA harassed the returning passengers.

Later, the committee chair handed over the written complaints from the Pakistani high commissioner in Rwanda to the FIA officials and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sought a detailed written response regarding all these complaints in the next meeting.