Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to visit Pakistan next week

[Devil Soul]

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to visit Pakistan next week
By Kamran Yousuf
Published: December 1, 2015

ISLAMABAD: In a crucial development against the backdrop of recent hiccup in ties between the two neighbours, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced on Tuesday he will visit Pakistan next week.

A Foreign Office statement confirmed that the Afghan President and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will jointly inaugurate the regional conference on Afghanistan on December 9 in Islamabad.

“I look forward to the visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Islamabad, for jointly inaugurating the Heart of Asia meeting on December 9,” the Foreign Office quoted the prime minister as saying.

Further, PM Nawaz is reported to have said he is looking forward to discussions on the sidelines of the meeting on “how the two countries and the US and China can work together to pick up the thread of the reconciliation process from where it was left off in July 2015.”

Afghan president ‘accepts invitation’ to meet PM Nawaz

On Monday, PM Nawaz met Ghani on the sidelines of the world climate summit in Paris amid heightened tensions over Kabul’s accusations that Islamabad aided the Taliban in their brief capture of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in late September. .

The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to work together to revive stalled peace talks with Taliban insurgents after meeting on the sidelines of a climate change conference in Paris, officials said.

Afghan peace process: Nawaz, Ghani agree to take ‘legitimate’ stakeholders onboard

Pakistan hosted a historic first round of peace negotiations in July. But the talks stalled soon thereafter when the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of their longtime leader Mullah Omar.

The United States and China have been pushing for the process to restart, but frosty ties between Islamabad and Kabul have been hampering those efforts.

A government statement late Monday said Ghani and Sharif had discussed the negotiations while they were in Paris. ”Both leaders agreed to work with all those who would enter such a process as legitimate political actors and act, alongside the Afghan government, against those who refuse to take the path of peace,” the statement said.

Ghani says Pak-Afghan ties not brotherly

To this end, the forthcoming meeting of Heart of Asia – Istanbul process, to be held in Islamabad on December 9, 2015 provides an opportunity to evolve a common roadmap for result-oriented reconciliation in Afghanistan, the statement added.

 

[AhsanAmin]

I think this is high time that civilian government in Pakistan and Pakistan army reach a conclusive consensus about what policy they want to adapt towards Afghanistan. All of us have to think as patriotic Pakistanis while making the decisions about how to deal with Afghanistan. In my opinion, if we make our national policies that encourage a lasting and decisive peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan has more to gain from such a policy than even Afghanistan herself would. If there is no insurgency in Afghanistan, there would be a large decrease in militancy in FATA and KPK. As a nation, we have to take all possible steps that decrease violence and militancy in our own country and assuring peace in Afghanistan would be a great step in that direction.

I think Pakistan and Afghanistan governments, with the monetary support from America, KSA and UAE, should offer taliban who want to throw arms and denounce militancy and intolerance, some economic package that helps them start a small business in Afghanistan and take care of their everyday needs for a few months. These Afghan taliban warriors are usually supported by money and stipends generated through unofficial means like drugs trade, and sympathizers in Pakistan and middle east. If America and KSA are serious about ending this insurgency, they should be able to set aside enough money towards the cause of rehabilitation of Afghan warriors who want to throw arms and start a peaceful life. This should be done while Afghan army makes all out effort to fight belligerents who are not willing to throw arms and want to continue fighting. Such a joint carrot and stick strategy might become more effective towards the goal of establishing peace and law and order in Afghanistan.

This is my request to Pak Army as a Pakistani citizen to never do anything, for the sake of Pakistan, that hurts peace in Afghanistan. If we have some 'assets' among Afghan Taliban, we should ask those assets to accept the rehabilitation package and throw arms. Peace in Afghanistan is the greatest asset our country needs to curb militancy in Pakistan and follow a fast economic growth tragectory.

Once there is peace in Afghanistan and militancy ends in FATA and KPK, the benefits to Pakistan will be monumental in terms of increased business activity and greater investor confidence in Pakistan. There would be trade with Afghanistan and participation in Afghan infrastructure development projects that will benefit Pakistan. We could open new trade routes to Central Asian states. All this will usher a new era of economic growth in the region.

I have written on this thread about how we can realize our geopolitical importance once there is peace in Afghanistan. Realizing Pakistan's Geo-Political Importance