Pak-Afghan military tie-up: Commanders vow ‘denial of space to terrorists’

Afghan chief of general staff will address PMA Kakul passing-out parade

ISLAMABAD:

Top military commanders of Pakistan and Afghanistan have pledged to continue coordinated offensives on their respective sides of the Durand Line in order to ensure terrorists find no place to hide.

Army chief General Raheel Sharif and Afghan chief of general staff General Sher Mohammad Karimi, who met at the GHQ in Rawalpindi on Friday, also reaffirmed their commitment to “continue targeting terrorists on [their] respective sides [and] ensuring total denial of space [to militants],” said chief military spokesperson Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa on microblogging site, Twitter.

The two commanders discussed various matters of common interest, including peace and stability in the region, especially in Afghanistan, Pak-Afghan border management, measures to further enhance defence and training cooperation between the two armies.

Gen Karimi will also attend the passing-out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul as the chief guest on Saturday in a rare development suggesting improved defence cooperation between the two neighbours, says a statement issued by the army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). He will also address the parade.

A military official said the participation of the chief of general staff of the Afghan National Army in the PMA passing-out parade is manifestation of Pakistan’s efforts to remove distrust and improve ties with Afghanistan. Frosty relations between the two neighbours have thawed since the National Unity Government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, took over from Hamid Karzai as a result of last year’s presidential elections in the strife-torn country.

Unlike the Karzai administration, the new government in Kabul accepted Islamabad’s longstanding offer to train Afghan army.

Earlier, on arrival at the GHQ, a smartly turned out contingent of the Pakistan Army presented a guard of honour to the top Afghan military commander. Gen Karimi also laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada and offered fateha.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2015.