Brussels rendezvous: US moves to ease Pak-Afghan tension

Kerry says talks make progress but refuses to ‘raise expectations’.

BRUSSELS:

US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to get Afghanistan and Pakistan on the same page on Wednesday, ending their mistrust so they could work together as Nato prepares for its Afghan withdrawal next year.

After more than three hours of talks in Brussels, Secretary Kerry said he had made progress with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani.

But all sides still had “some very specific homework to do,” he said, declining to give specific details so as not “to raise expectations or make any kind of promises that cannot be delivered.

As the talks closed, neither Karzai nor Gen Kayani made any comment. Secretary Kerry said: “We have all agreed that results are what will tell the story, not statements at a press conference.”

The three parties would “continue a very specific dialogue on both the political track as well as the security track,” said Kerry. “We have a commitment to do that in the interests of Afghanistan, Pakistan and peace in the region,” he added.

After the meeting, Kerry, Kayani and Karzai strolled together in the sprawling garden of the residence of the US ambassador to NATO on the outskirts of the Belgian capital.

President Karzai called it an important meeting and said he was glad Gen Kayani and Jilani had found the time to travel to Brussels. “Let’s hope ... for the best,” he told reporters.

The US administration sees Pakistan as a key player in brokering peace with Taliban insurgents who have been battling the Kabul government and US-led Nato forces since 2001.

Relations between Islamabad and Kabul, however, have been strained for years and Karzai has accused Pakistan of aiding the Taliban who seek refuge along their rugged border. Signs earlier this year of an improvement in relations have faded amid disagreements between the two over how to promote peace efforts by bringing the Taliban on board.

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of supporting the insurgents to counter the influence of arch-rival India. Washington for its part has pushed the trilateral discussions since 2009 in an effort to ease such suspicions but they are deep-seated.

Pakistan strongly rejects the charge it helps the Taliban, and in a statement on Monday posted on its Brussels embassy website said it “consistently endeavoured to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

“Pakistan remains committed to continue its positive and constructive role towards a durable peace in Afghanistan. “Pakistan is convinced that a peaceful, stable, prosperous and united Afghanistan is in the interest of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region,” it said.

Secretary Kerry, who arranged the meeting on top of a visit to Brussels for a Nato foreign ministers’ gathering, said as he went into the talks earlier that he was “very hopeful for a productive series of discussions”.

The talks would cover “security and other issues regarding the relationships in the region as well as the road forward heading towards 2014”, he said.

Wednesday’s talks come a day after a gathering of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels at which alliance Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Pakistan must crack down on militants who use the country as a sanctuary to launch attacks in Afghanistan. The meeting follows weeks of tension with Pakistan over their 2,600-km border and stalled peace efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2013.