Sartaj Aziz likely to urge Afghanistan to stop anti-Pakistan campaign
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Thursday, 3 September 2015
Sartaj AzizISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, who will visit Kabul tomorrow (Friday) to attend the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference, will urge Afghan leadership to stop anti-Pakistan propaganda which is undermining the level of trust between the two neighbours, said diplomatic sources here on Thursday.
Pakistan embassy in Kabul was feeling deeply concerned because of this campaign as it was not conducive for peace in Afghanistan. Despite anti- Pakistan statements emanating from Kabul recently, they said, Pakistan had not reacted by not issuing any tit-for-tat statement because Islamabad was genuinely committed to see return of peace to war-devastated country.
Sartaj Aziz during his day-long sojourn in Kabul will call on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Afghan counterpart to discuss Pak- Afghan bilateral relations. Diplomatic sources said the second most important point Aziz would stress upon during his talks with Afghan leadership would be that path of lasting peace in Afghanistan lies in the intra-Afghan dialogue and not in the use of force.
They were of the view that Pakistan believed that Afghanistan’s situation could not be resolved through war as use of force in the past had failed to restore peace. If Afghan government wants to go ahead in that path, Pakistan is ready to move forward. Pakistan had organized the first round of Afghan-led and intra-Afghan dialogue in scenic Murree on July 7, attended by representatives of the US and China. The second round of talks on July 31 was cancelled when the news of Taliban leader Mullah Omar was announced two days before the talks and a war of succession was started among Taliban groups , they said. But now Mullah Mansour Akhtar has established its leadership among the Afghan groups.
During these talks Pakistan did not suggest anything as it did not want to impose any condition because Islamabad had taken a solemn decision to see Afghanistan as a sovereign country, they said.
“There are two ways to achieve peace in Afghanistan which are either intra- Afghan dialogue or the use of force but it is up to Afghans which course they want to choose. But the use of force in Afghanistan would spread uncertainty and it will have a fall out in both countries,” said the diplomatic sources.
When questioned on reports of Quetta Shoora, diplomatic sources said that there was need to differentiate between information and disinformation. According to a study 80 percent insurgency in Afghanistan was Afghan based and Afghan owned while only 14 per cent violence had been attributed by Haqqgani Group.
Diplomatic sources said that Pakistan had proved beyond doubt its commitment to eliminate terrorism from its soil and launched North Waziristan operation through its own resources and had already paid a heavy price both in men and material.