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Imran Khan in Kabul; Editorial in Pakistan Today,Nov 20, 2020


Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Imran Khan on his first visit to Kabul. The visit took place in response to the Afghan President’s invitation and is aimed at building on the sustained engagement between the two countries in recent months with the focus being on enhancing bilateral cooperation in various fields, hastening Afghan peace process and regional economic development and connectivity. The visit ended with both Mr Khan and President Ghani assuring each other of mutual cooperation at a joint presser.

The past few months have been marked by several high-level meetings between the two countries. These include regular exchanges between the foreign ministers and visits to Islamabad by Afghan official Abdullah Abdullah, Afghan Wolesi Jirga Speaker Rahman Rahmani and Afghan Commerce Minister Nisar Ghoraini.

The basic issue that divides the two countries is lack of mutual trust. Pakistan thinks that the Afghan government allows the RAW-sponsored TTP and Balochistan separatist networks to use its territory for attacks inside Pakistan. The Afghan government maintains that Pakistan supports Afghan Taliban who attack Afghan security forces and the civilian population.

What worries Afghanistan most is that the Doha talks have been bogged down on principles and procedures for talks even before the discussion on the agenda. Meanwhile the Taliban continue to launch attacks inside Afghanistan and are not even willing for reduction in violence. Benefitting from the situation, the Islamic State has targeted the Hazara community in the country through daredevil attacks and suicide bombing. The Afghan government wants Pakistan to persuade the Taliban to agree on a ceasefire during the talks.

While President Trump was in haste to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and had reached a peace agreement with the Taliban, it is yet to be known what policy President-elect Biden is going to pursue. The change of administration in the USA has added a new factor of uncertainty into the Afghan peace process.

While the Afghan side will judge Mr Khan’s Kabul visit from its own perspective, from the Pakistan side it would be considered fruitful if it leads to a reduction in terrorist attacks launched from Afghan territory inside KP’s tribal districts and in Balochistan. Even on the day the PM visited Kabul, two Pakistani soldiers died in a security check post attack near Pash Ziarat, South Waziristan. The incident underlines the need for better understanding between Pakistan and Afghanistan.https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/19/imran-khan-in-kabul/