Ice melts in Pak-Afghan ties, security lags

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD:

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar's weekend visit to Kabul marked a major breakthrough on bilateral trade and other political issues. However, Afghan sources said on Sunday that matters related to security still require a long-term commitment to navigate this bumpy road.

The sources told The Express Tribune that Dar's trip to Afghanistan on Saturday had multifaceted approaches to a variety of issues, including easing diplomatic tensions, trade enhancements, refugee resettlement, and the cross-border movements of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

"Foreign Minister Dar himself accepted that the two sides are having a sour relationship between the two brotherly nations," said a source close to the Pak-Afghan ties. "Mistrust, trade deficit, repatriation of Afghan refugees, and a blame game over cross-border attacks irked Kabul," the source added.

However, several analysts believed that Dar was successful on diplomatic front, as the ice melts between the countries through the high-level meeting aimed at resolving issues. "On his own ground of economy, Dar knew how to win, and he showed his skills, and played his cards well," said an analyst.

In the economic and trade sector, an Afghan commerce ministry official told The Express Tribune Peshawar office that Pakistan would eliminate 14–16 categories of additional tariffs on the Afghan transit goods.

"This will result in the removal of 10% taxes on 867 types of products, and transit goods will once again benefit from the exemptions as before," he said. Besides, the 2% transit tax on Container Cross Stuffing (CSS) imposed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on Afghan containers would be reduced to 1%."

Another concession for the Afghan traders was the replacement of "bank guarantees" with "insurance guarantees", which would ease procedures and lower financial burdens," the official said, adding: "I personally do not understand the difference between a bank guarantee and an insurance guarantee."

Other benefits include limiting demurrage on Afghan goods at the Karachi port, provision of concessions on loading and handling, container exchange privileges, and exemptions from extra duties - all of which were considered incentives to the Afghan side.

According to the sources, the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Agreement (APTA) would be finalised and implemented by June 30. On the bilateral engagements, the two sides agreed to form two committees on political and trade to meet periodically.

During the talks, the Afghan side registered its grievances regarding the repatriation of the Afghan refugees. They were irked over the arrests of the refugees and "mishandling" of the deportation process by Islamabad, according to Afghan officials.

However, Islamabad assured Kabul that none of the Afghan refugees would be forced to leave their immovable properties without selling it, and that they would be allowed take their valuables with them," they added.

At the same time, Islamabad made it clear that certain miscreants should not use this leniency for smuggling, therefore, a system of checks and balances would be in place for screening of the departing refugees, the source continued.

The Afghan side raised the concerns that "miscreants" should not enter Afghanistan in the guise of returning refugees. On that the Pakistani delegation assured that Kabul's apprehensions would be addressed accordingly. "Dar assured that Islamabad will never allow use of its soil against Afghanistan."

On the TTP and matter related to security, according to security analysts and experts, a long-term commitment appeared lacking, as the Haqqani Network chief Siraj Uddin Haqqani did not attend any meeting with the Pakistani delegation. The sources opined that without Haqqani's commitment, Pakistan wouldn't see any pace in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa or in Balochistan.

0one of the sources pointed out that Pakistan and Afghanistan had already formed the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) where a report on TTP and other security issues were presented last month, adding that a serious outcome could be expected when Haqqani was part of decision making.

Both sides portray that Dar's visit was successful on trade, diplomatic and economic grounds, hoping that its positive impact would be visible in June. Still Kabul sees refugees issue a thorn in bilateral ties, while Islamabad faced an uphill task in achieving breakthrough on TTP and other security issues.

"If Islamabad hasn't sensed any changes on security grounds, we fear that any attack from across the border by Islamabad might wash away the entire efforts," a source from the Afghan capital told The Express Tribune.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar undertook the ice-breaking visit nearly two months after both the countries came close to a potential all-out war over a spat triggered by Afghanistan's construction of a new post, on the Torkham border, which Pakistan deemed an infringement upon its sovereignty.

The Torkham border was only reopened after painstaking talks brokered by traditional jirga. Once the border was reopened, the two sides began to speak to each other behind closed doors, not only to avoid repeated closure of border, but also found ways to remove stumbling blocks in the relationship.

The primary obstacle remains the use of Afghan soil by the banned TTP and its affiliates against Pakistan. What adds to the complexity of the problem was that the TTP was employing more and more Afghan nationals for terrorist attacks.

Some of the Afghans involved in terrorist attacks were close relatives of Afghan Taliban leaders. Pakistan told the Afghan government that without resolution of the TTP problem, there would be little room for cooperation.

During behind the scene discussions, Taliban government admitted that TTP was a problem and sought time to address Pakistan's concerns. Islamabad on its part showed some flexibility and informed the Taliban government to at least take steps that prevent TTP from attacking Pakistan.

Previously, Pakistan was demanding action against the TTP as well as arrest of their leaders. However, an official in Islamabad told The Express Tribune that Pakistan now asked the Taliban to take steps without resorting to use of force or arrests to stop TTP from using the Afghan soil.

The official said the Taliban agreed and during a meeting of the Pakistan, Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) briefed the Pakistani side about the steps.

One official disclosed that the Taliban government arrested several Afghan nationals for their potential involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan. "It is a work in progress," noted an official, who believes that the Afghan Taliban also wanted to address the issue of TTP.

During the ice-breaking visit by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul on Saturday, Afghan Interim Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund assured him that Afghanistan would not allow its soil to be used against its neighbours including Pakistan.

The public statement by a senior Taliban leader was meant to address Pakistan's concerns. In return for the Taliban government's fresh assurances, Pakistan removed some of the restrictions imposed on the Afghan transit trade.

On his return from the daylong visit, Dar termed his visit as a precursor for a "new chapter" in the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"It is certainly a good start. Two months ago there was talk of a war but all those fears have given way to new optimism," commented a senior Pakistani official, who was privy to the development.