Rising tempers: Kabul cancels military trip

Threatens to pursue peace without Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan took a sharp turn for the worse on Wednesday as the Afghan army cancelled its maiden military trip to Quetta due to “unacceptable Pakistani shelling” of its mountainous eastern borderlands.

“This visit will no longer take place due to the resumption of unacceptable Pakistani artillery shelling against different parts of Kunar province from across the Durand Line on Monday and Tuesday,” the ministry statement said, adding that more than two dozen artillery shells had been fired into the eastern province of the country on Monday and Tuesday.

Eleven Afghan National Army (ANA) officers had been due to take part in a simulated military exercise at the Quetta Staff College. Islamabad, however, strongly rejected Kabul’s allegations saying there had been an incursion from the Afghan side.

“Our troops responded. We have seen reaction given by the Afghan government but it appears to be an overreaction to a local incident,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, while expressing his disappointment over the move by the Afghan army.

The cancellation of the trip follows days of heated diplomatic exchanges, which have placed further strain on the already fraught relationship.

On Wednesday, the spokesperson refused to respond to ‘provocative statements’ being issued by Afghan officials, referring to Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin, who accused Islamabad of “complacency” in the nascent Afghan peace process in an exclusive interview with Reuters.



Ludin, who is widely believed to shape foreign policy in Afghanistan, said his country was ready to work without Pakistan’s help in the peace process – the first time such a suggestion has been made by an Afghan official.

The deputy foreign minister told Reuters that Afghanistan had noted a shift in Pakistan’s position towards peace efforts that are gaining more urgency as foreign forces prepare to leave by the end of 2014.

“We here in Kabul are in a bit of a state of shock at once again being confronted by the depth of Pakistan’s complacency, we are just very disappointed,” he said.

“But what has happened in the last few months for us, (we) see that Pakistan is changing the goal post every time we reach understanding.”

But despite the accusation, Chaudhry insisted that Pakistan would continue to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.

Interestingly, Ludin’s remarks also come a day after a report submitted in the Supreme Court by the Inter-Services Intelligence agency said there was a “nexus” between members of the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan government.

In the interview, the Afghan minister also said Pakistan had been trying to get the Taliban to talk to other parties, like the opposition, something he said would reverse gains. He insisted that the Afghan High Peace Council, formed by Karzai, should spearhead any peace efforts.

“Suddenly, there is a new notion of the peace process now being introduced by Pakistan and that’s ‘well why should the Taliban talk to President Karzai or the High Peace Council?’” he said. “They (Taliban) should in fact talk to other political parties. That’s what they have told us,” Ludin added.

But the deputy foreign minister also stressed that Pakistan was a pivotal player and Afghanistan would still welcome its support.

“The sad reality is though Pakistan still remains the most important missing link in this whole vision that we have,” he said.

Bagram prisoners

Karzai’s government, Ludin said, would now turn to some of the most senior, hardcore Taliban leaders behind bars in Bagram, recently handed over by the United States, in its quest for peace.

The Afghan Taliban, however, condemned the plan, saying the prisoners could not represent the Taliban.

“It would be a serious crime by the puppet regime in Kabul to use the prisoners for political motives,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Express Tribune via phone from Afghanistan.

“We can say that the prisoners cannot represent Taliban,” he added.

The Afghan president is also due to visit the Gulf Arab state of Qatar soon to discuss the opening of a Taliban office that could be used for peace contacts in the future.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2013.