Rejuvenating bilateral ties: Khar breaks ice, bread in Kabul
Neighbours underscore need for ‘strong, robust’ ties.
KABUL:
After months of non-engagement following a peace envoy’s assassination, Kabul and Islamabad broke the ice on Wednesday and committed to a “strong, robust and independent bilateral relationship [that] would greatly contribute to peace and stability in the region.”
The neighbours underscored the need to enhance bilateral engagement across all socio-economic fields, according to a joint communiqué issued on Wednesday following Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s talks with her Afghan counterpart, Dr Zalmai Rassoul.
Khar also called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai who, according to the communiqué, is expected to visit Pakistan on February 16.
For starters, Pakistan threw its weight behind an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.”
“Pakistan stands behind any initiative that the Afghan government takes for peace,” Khar said at a joint press conference.
“We consider any threat to Afghanistan’s independence and sovereignty as a threat to Pakistan’s existence,” she said, adding that the two countries “need to look forward to a relationship based on trust.”
“There will be no peace in the region if there is no serious regional cooperation,” said Rassoul.
“Pakistan plays a key role in the Afghan peace process. I hope Ms Rabani’s visit is the beginning of a good relationship between our two countries,” he added.
Achievements and potential
The communiqué highlighted a host of bilateral achievements and potential.
Documented annual bilateral trade between Islamabad and Kabul has reached $2.5 billion, and the two countries said it should be enhanced to $5 billion by 2015.
The two sides agreed to operationalise a joint commission to address prisoner exchange and finalise a memorandum of understanding for abolition of visa for diplomats.
To promote infrastructure and energy connectivity, the neighbours agreed to explore donor funding for building Peshawar-Jalalabad and Quetta-Kandahar railways, prioritise Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and CASA-1000 projects, jointly pursue trade and transit agreements with Central Asian states and develop a framework for cooperation in mining.
Highlighting people-to people contacts, the communiqué said that around 7,000 Afghan students are enrolled in Pakistani universities and professional colleges.
More than 1,400 students have benefitted from Prime Minister of Pakistan’s 2,000 scholarships for Afghan students to study at Pakistan’s universities, it added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2012.
After months of non-engagement following a peace envoy’s assassination, Kabul and Islamabad broke the ice on Wednesday and committed to a “strong, robust and independent bilateral relationship [that] would greatly contribute to peace and stability in the region.”
The neighbours underscored the need to enhance bilateral engagement across all socio-economic fields, according to a joint communiqué issued on Wednesday following Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s talks with her Afghan counterpart, Dr Zalmai Rassoul.
Khar also called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai who, according to the communiqué, is expected to visit Pakistan on February 16.
For starters, Pakistan threw its weight behind an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.”
“Pakistan stands behind any initiative that the Afghan government takes for peace,” Khar said at a joint press conference.
“We consider any threat to Afghanistan’s independence and sovereignty as a threat to Pakistan’s existence,” she said, adding that the two countries “need to look forward to a relationship based on trust.”
“There will be no peace in the region if there is no serious regional cooperation,” said Rassoul.
“Pakistan plays a key role in the Afghan peace process. I hope Ms Rabani’s visit is the beginning of a good relationship between our two countries,” he added.
Achievements and potential
The communiqué highlighted a host of bilateral achievements and potential.
Documented annual bilateral trade between Islamabad and Kabul has reached $2.5 billion, and the two countries said it should be enhanced to $5 billion by 2015.
The two sides agreed to operationalise a joint commission to address prisoner exchange and finalise a memorandum of understanding for abolition of visa for diplomats.
To promote infrastructure and energy connectivity, the neighbours agreed to explore donor funding for building Peshawar-Jalalabad and Quetta-Kandahar railways, prioritise Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and CASA-1000 projects, jointly pursue trade and transit agreements with Central Asian states and develop a framework for cooperation in mining.
Highlighting people-to people contacts, the communiqué said that around 7,000 Afghan students are enrolled in Pakistani universities and professional colleges.
More than 1,400 students have benefitted from Prime Minister of Pakistan’s 2,000 scholarships for Afghan students to study at Pakistan’s universities, it added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2012.