Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaz Aziz. PHOTO: REUTERS
Islamabad has abandoned the policy of ‘double play’ vis-a-vis Afghanistan and is making genuine efforts to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, the government informed the Senate panel on foreign affairs on Tuesday.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz gave the Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs an in-camera briefing on the government’s Afghan policy.
“We have no favourites in Afghanistan. Our aim is to facilitate efforts in restoring long-term peace in Afghanistan,” Chairman of the committee Senator Adeel quoted Sartaj Aziz as telling the panel.
The adviser told the committee that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was following a policy of non-interference in Afghanistan.
Aziz termed the recent visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai successful in decreasing the trust deficit between the two neighbours.
Senator Adeel told The Express Tribune that the government acknowledged that in the past, the security establishment solely took decisions on issues of national security. “For decades, we considered Afghanistan as our fifth province and made attempts to install governments of our own choosing. This practice must come to an end,” said Senator Adeel, who is a senior leader of the Awami National Party.
He said the PML-N government had assured the committee that civilian authorities would now be in charge of foreign policy decisions.
Separately, Adviser Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan was committed to supporting efforts for peace and reconciliation in neighbouring Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been fighting a deadly insurgency for nearly 12 years now.
Addressing a seminar organised by the East West Institute in Islamabad, he said Pakistan was keen to continue working with Afghanistan in pursuit of connectivity and energy projects linking Pakistan with Central Asia.
“A peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s vital national interest,” he added. “We remain committed to supporting efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan in an inclusive, Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2013.
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When Pakistan recognise Afganistan as a independent and sovereign state not his fifth province all problem will solve itself.