Two Pakistani diplomats working for the Jalalabad Consulate have gone missing in eastern Afghanistan.
A statement released by the foreign ministry said that the diplomatic officials disappeared while returning to their home from Afghanistan by road on June 16.
Jalalabad is the provincial capital of Nangarhar province, which borders the Khyber Agency of Pakistan and is infested with various Islamist groups including Pakistani and Afghan Taliban as well as Islamic State fighters. The incident comes shortly after a visit by the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, to Afghanistan. Pakistan has not yet accused any group of the possible kidnapping.Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have been tense in recent years, with both countries accusing each other of not doing enough to tackle Pakistani and Afghan Taliban militants. Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to Afghan Taliban commanders based within its borders and of supporting the militant group, something Islamabad denies.Pakistan on the other hand has long been demanding action against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other anti-Pakistan militants who took refuge in Afghanistan after Pakistan military’s operation in the tribal belt along Afghanistan. These militants have since been launching attacks in Pakistan from their Afghan safe havens.The two neighbours also have longstanding border issues. They share a roughly 2,500 kilometre-long largely unmanned border called Durand Line, which runs through a mountainous terrain. They are going through a new phase of heightened tension after Afghan forces violated the border, killing and wounding several Pakistanis last month, which lead to closure of Chaman border crossing by Pakistan for weeks. The firing from the Afghan side of the border in Chaman targeted a Pakistani team conducting population census in frontier villages. Pakistan asked Afghanistan to stay away from anti-peace elements who want to pit the Muslim-majority neighbours against each other, saying blame game was unhelpful for peace efforts. Islamabad asked Kabul to engage in a dialogue process to improve ties. Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria rejected Afghan allegations after last week’s terror attacks in Kabul. Over the weekend, the foreign ministry announced that Pakistan had opened Kharlachi crossing with Afghanistan in the Kurram Agency for trade. The state level collaboration between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the kidnapped officials is a welcome development. Although the immediate priority should be to ensure the safe return of the two officials, the kidnapping can be used to build trust between two countries that do not see eye to eye on most things. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan need to realise that the two countries share a common history and indeed a common future. Unstable Afghanistan is not in the interest of Pakistan and Pakistan cannot meet the challenge of terrorism in the region. Afghanistan needs to cooperate with Pakistan to tackle this menace. Kabul should take all its efforts to ensure early recovery of Pakistani officials and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.
