Uneasy neighbours: Karzai to visit Pakistan for talks on strategic deal
Afghan president scheduled to arrive in next two months.
ISLAMABAD:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to visit Pakistan in the next two months to hold follow-up talks on a proposed strategic partnership agreement between the two uneasy neighbours, Afghan sources told The Express Tribune.
President Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart had agreed in their meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in late September, to finalise a strategic partnership agreement by 2013 to strengthen bilateral relations.
President Karzai was previously scheduled to visit Islamabad for a quadrilateral summit of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Tajikistan from October 2 to October 3. But the summit was postponed after Russian President Vladimir Putin postponed his trip.
“Now a proposal has been floated that President Karzai visit Pakistan this year,” an Afghan source told The Express Tribune. Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul will visit Islamabad ahead of Karzai’s trip to discuss bilateral matters, including the proposed strategic partnership agreement, sources said.
He will also discuss the agenda of Karzai’s meetings. There will also be a review on the progress made on the issue of providing a safe passage to the reconciled Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.
Sources added that the Afghan government would present a draft of the proposed strategic partnership agreement during President Karzai’s visit and the Pakistani government was likely to prepare its own draft.
Afghan High Peace Council Chairman Salauddin Rabbani will also accompany President Karzai.
President Karzai said on Thursday that the bilateral pact would be signed if certain conditions were met, including stopping the “export of terrorism, suicide bombers, interference in internal affairs and causing the destabilisation of Afghanistan.”
Divided opinion
Afghanistan’s opposition parties and civil society have expressed mixed feelings towards the proposed deal.
The National Coalition of Afghanistan, led by former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, has strongly opposed the agreement.
“How is it possible to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Pakistan, when it is currently engaged in military, political and intelligence warfare against us,” Fazel Rahman Oria, an NCA member, told Tolo TV in a recent interview.
An Afghan newspaper said the pact could facilitate peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2012.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to visit Pakistan in the next two months to hold follow-up talks on a proposed strategic partnership agreement between the two uneasy neighbours, Afghan sources told The Express Tribune.
President Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart had agreed in their meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in late September, to finalise a strategic partnership agreement by 2013 to strengthen bilateral relations.
President Karzai was previously scheduled to visit Islamabad for a quadrilateral summit of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Tajikistan from October 2 to October 3. But the summit was postponed after Russian President Vladimir Putin postponed his trip.
“Now a proposal has been floated that President Karzai visit Pakistan this year,” an Afghan source told The Express Tribune. Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul will visit Islamabad ahead of Karzai’s trip to discuss bilateral matters, including the proposed strategic partnership agreement, sources said.
He will also discuss the agenda of Karzai’s meetings. There will also be a review on the progress made on the issue of providing a safe passage to the reconciled Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.
Sources added that the Afghan government would present a draft of the proposed strategic partnership agreement during President Karzai’s visit and the Pakistani government was likely to prepare its own draft.
Afghan High Peace Council Chairman Salauddin Rabbani will also accompany President Karzai.
President Karzai said on Thursday that the bilateral pact would be signed if certain conditions were met, including stopping the “export of terrorism, suicide bombers, interference in internal affairs and causing the destabilisation of Afghanistan.”
Divided opinion
Afghanistan’s opposition parties and civil society have expressed mixed feelings towards the proposed deal.
The National Coalition of Afghanistan, led by former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, has strongly opposed the agreement.
“How is it possible to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Pakistan, when it is currently engaged in military, political and intelligence warfare against us,” Fazel Rahman Oria, an NCA member, told Tolo TV in a recent interview.
An Afghan newspaper said the pact could facilitate peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2012.