Three US officials arriving this week to discuss Afghan issues

A senior Biden Administration official dealing with refugee issues will begin a four-day trip to Islamabad from Monday (today) in the first of a series of visits by American officials amid deteriorating ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Julieta Valls Noyes, the US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, will reach Islamabad today. She will stay in the federal capital until Thursday.

On conclusion of her visit on December 7, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tom West will kick off his trip to Islamabad. After his visit, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst, who is responsible for Pakistan, will arrive here on December 9.

The flurry of visits by American officials come against the backdrop of Pakistan’s move to evict all illegal Afghans, rising tensions with the Afghan Taliban over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the upcoming generals elections due in February.

“Pakistan and the United States continue to hold consultations on a range of issues. To advance these consultations, exchange of visits also takes place,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement while giving context of the visits.

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“These visits are part of ongoing dialogue with the US on a range of issues, including, but not limited to, the situation in Afghanistan,” she added.

A statement issued by the US State Department said that Assistant Secretary of State Noyes will travel to Islamabad for a December 4-7 visit during which he would meet “senior government officials, as well as non-governmental and international organisation partners”.

“In Islamabad, Assistant Secretary Noyes will … discuss shared efforts to protect vulnerable individuals and accelerate safe, efficient relocation and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the US immigration pipeline,” according to the State Department readout.

Pakistan has launched a crackdown against the Afghans living in the country illegally, following the expiry of the October 31 deadline. Since then, the US has been in touch with Pakistan to ensure that Afghans, who were illegible for immigration to the US were spared.

There are about 25, 000 Afghans, who according to Washington, are in Pakistan and waiting for their immigration to the US. Those Afghans worked with the US during its military campaign in Afghanistan. But after the US withdrawal, they are stuck in Pakistan, awaiting completion of immigration process.

The US has been working with Pakistan to find a workable solution to avoid such Afghans being deported to Afghans. There are also concerned that other than such Afghans, there are individuals such as musicians, artists, journalists and others who may be evicted.

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The US is keen that such vulnerable Afghans are not touched either. Pakistani officials have said that their cases will be scrutinised accordingly and made it clear that in the first phase those Afghans are being sent back who don’t have any legal status.

Sources said while the visit of Assistant Secretary Noyes would focus on the refugee issue, Tom West’s agenda would be the overall Afghan situation particularly the current state of relationship between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.

Tension between Pakistan and Taliban government has been running high as Kabul refused to take decisive action against the TTP. The US is believed to have been worried that any escalation in tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban government would destabilise Afghanistan.

The US officials are likely to get the first-hand account of Pakistani officials about the ties with Afghanistan. Officials said that despite repeated demands, the Taliban are reluctant to neutralise the TTP threat.

After recent terrorist attack in Bannu, Pakistan made a fresh demand of the Afghan Taliban to take verifiable actions against the TTP and its affiliates. The Taliban are still pushing for alternative options, something Pakistan has refused to accept.