Positive realignment

Relations with Afghanistan suffered innumerable setbacks during the years that President Hamid Karzai reigned supreme — at least in Kabul. But since his departure there has been what amounts to an across-the-board reboot for bilateral relations. The latest indication that there is an upwards curve in coordination and harmonisation is that there is to be an easing of travel procedures and a long-overdue prisoner swap is also on the cards. The revision to travel arrangements may see the revival of the ‘Rahdari’ system that ran from the days of the Raj to the late 1980s. A card is issued to citizens of either country at their point of entry with complete data of the individual, their address in the country they are visiting and the duration of their stay. This could be further enhanced by digitising the card and including biometrics. There is also a plan to allow Afghans permanently residing in Pakistan to engage in economic activities and own property.

The change in the diplomatic climate has begun to enable the ‘unsticking’ of several long-standing problems, and prisoner exchange is an obvious area where improvements may be made to the benefit of both sides. It will be framed in such a way as to allow wanted persons to be exchanged as well as those convicted in civil and criminal cases that may be returned to complete their sentences in their own countries, in line with common practice in many other countries. There are hundreds of people in jails on both sides of the border who would benefit. This activity is in large part spurred by the fallout from the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar and the subsequent detention by the Afghan government of six of those suspected of involvement. The easing in relations at many levels — military, intelligence-sharing, civilian matters — come at an opportune moment. The regional churn triggered by the American withdrawal from Afghanistan is proving to have some positive outcomes, and a sense of easement both west and east is to the benefit of the region in general.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  3^rd,  2015.

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