Pakistan's PM in Kabul for talks

[genmirajborgza786]

Pakistan's PM in Kabul for talks
By Dan Issacs
BBC News, Kabul

Pakistan says a fence will help stop militants crossing the border
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is in Kabul for talks with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent days after Pakistan said it intended to build a fence and place mines along the border.
Islamabad says this will restrict the movement of Taleban fighters.
President Karzai says the fence will not prevent militants crossing the border, but will only separate Pashtun tribes and families.
Despite their many shared security challenges, diplomatic niceties are rarely observed between these two neighbours.
President Karzai has repeatedly expressed his frustration at what he considers to be Pakistan's failure to crack down on Taleban militants operating within Pakistan's borders.
And Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has made the feud personal by suggesting that Mr Karzai is in control of little more than his capital, Kabul.
So the visit by the Pakistan prime minister perhaps ought to be one of mending diplomatic fences.
But within this climate of mistrust, it is hard to see progress on the vital issue that affects both countries and the wider region - that of how to effectively control and contain Taleban forces on their remote mountain border.

source:BBC

 

[Neo]

Pakistan pushes border fence plan

Pakistan says a fence will help stop militants crossing the border
Pakistan has reiterated its intention to fence and mine sections of the troubled border with Afghanistan.
Speaking after talks in Kabul, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz made clear his government wanted to press ahead with the project, despite Afghan objections.

Kabul particularly opposes the idea of mining stretches of the frontier, saying it will endanger civilian lives.

President Karzai called for Pakistan to tackle "Taleban terrorism" by dismantling training bases on its soil.

'Divisive'

President Karzai described Thursday's meeting as a necessary step in rebuilding what he described as the gap in relations between the two countries.

Ties reached a new low at the end of last month when the idea of a mined border fence was raised by Pakistan.

Terrorism cannot be terminated unless we target the sources, its roots and places where they get training

President Hamid Karzai

Will border fence plan work?
The fence has been suggested before at strategic points along the Pakistani side of the 2,500km mountainous border, but the laying of landmines has not.

Islamabad says the plan will restrict the movement of Taleban fighters.

President Karzai says the fence will not prevent militants crossing the border, but will only separate Pashtun tribes and families.

He told the news conference in Kabul that Afghans were all too aware of the deadly consequences of laying mines.

"We do not believe that laying mines on the border will end terrorism either in Afghanistan or will reduce the effects of it in Pakistan. We are asking for other measures.

"The mining of the border and fencing the border cannot prevent terrorism but it will divide the two nations."

He added that the only real way to tackle what he called Taleban terrorism was to focus on their training bases and places of sanctuary within Pakistan.

'Options'

The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Kabul says Mr Aziz made it very clear that Pakistan had every intention of going ahead with the fencing project.

"We are exploring many options including fencing and mining selectively to discourage people from going across the border," the Pakistani prime minister said.

"And we believe that selective fencing and mining can help achieve this objective."

Our correspondent says that despite their many shared security challenges, diplomatic niceties are rarely observed between the two neighbours.

President Karzai has repeatedly expressed his frustration at what he considers to be Pakistan's failure to crack down on Taleban militants operating within Pakistan's borders.

And Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has made the feud personal by suggesting that Mr Karzai is in control of little more than his capital, Kabul.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6229833.stm

 

[Awesome]

What is Karzai's problem with the fence? If it doesn't work, he's not paying for it!

 

[zpak]

He wont be able to blame Pakistan for his own problems.

 

[Cheetah786]

What is Karzai's problem with the fence? If it doesn't work, he's not paying for it!

yes but if it does work he will be paying for it.as he will have no one but himself to blame.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

Karzai and Afghans have some serious problems. They have never lived as peaceful neighbours with Pakistan. It was only during the Taliban times when we had some sense of security on our western borders. But now its back to the same old days.

 

[araz]

I think Karzais days are numbered. A puppet on a super powers strings where the said power wants to bailout as quickly as is possible. He will go as soon as the Americans go and they aint taking him back with ,em. However what happens to Afghanistan if the US leaves is a troublesome thought for Pakistan as well. One could mine and fence the border but if there is further infighting, what will happen to the poor people of the region, and what would be the repurcussionson Pakistan?This is what worries me now.
Araz