Border issues with Afghanistan resolved: ISPR
Both sides agreed to continue bilateral interactions.
A delegation of Afghan army officials visited the GHQ. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
After a high-level meeting between top military officials, Pakistan Army said on Monday that border issues with Afghanistan have been resolved.
A delegation of Afghan army officials, headed by Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Afghan National Army Maj Gen Afzal Aman, visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) and met his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmed over border coordination.
“All ongoing cross-border coordination issues, including border post construction in Mohmand Agency, were discussed and amicably resolved,” said a press release issued by ISPR. “The meeting was held in a cordial environment.”
It is the first visit by top Afghan military officials to Pakistan, particularly after border clashes between the two neighbours intensified. Earlier this month, the Afghan government demanded Islamabad halt ‘provocative and unacceptable activities’ along the border and objected to the ‘uncoordinated construction’ of a Pakistani check post.
The ISPR statement claimed that “both sides agreed to continue bilateral interactions to enhance border coordination and reduce space for detractors.”
Earlier in the day, hundreds of Afghan university students in the eastern city of Jalalabad took to the streets to protest the building of Pakistan military border post in what the Afghan defence ministry says is inside their territory. The protest was sparked by a statement on Sunday by President Hamid Karzai who ordered his top officials to take immediate action to remove the gate and other “Pakistani military installations near the Durand Line”.
“Establishing a gate by Pakistan on the Durand Line and inside Afghanistan is against all international norms,” Afghan defence ministry spokesman, General Zahir Azimi, told a news conference on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2013.
After a high-level meeting between top military officials, Pakistan Army said on Monday that border issues with Afghanistan have been resolved.
A delegation of Afghan army officials, headed by Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Afghan National Army Maj Gen Afzal Aman, visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) and met his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmed over border coordination.
“All ongoing cross-border coordination issues, including border post construction in Mohmand Agency, were discussed and amicably resolved,” said a press release issued by ISPR. “The meeting was held in a cordial environment.”
It is the first visit by top Afghan military officials to Pakistan, particularly after border clashes between the two neighbours intensified. Earlier this month, the Afghan government demanded Islamabad halt ‘provocative and unacceptable activities’ along the border and objected to the ‘uncoordinated construction’ of a Pakistani check post.
The ISPR statement claimed that “both sides agreed to continue bilateral interactions to enhance border coordination and reduce space for detractors.”
Earlier in the day, hundreds of Afghan university students in the eastern city of Jalalabad took to the streets to protest the building of Pakistan military border post in what the Afghan defence ministry says is inside their territory. The protest was sparked by a statement on Sunday by President Hamid Karzai who ordered his top officials to take immediate action to remove the gate and other “Pakistani military installations near the Durand Line”.
“Establishing a gate by Pakistan on the Durand Line and inside Afghanistan is against all international norms,” Afghan defence ministry spokesman, General Zahir Azimi, told a news conference on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2013.