Minister for Foreign Affairs Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Pakistan and Afghanistan border management was very essential for controlling terrorism in two countries. The minister said circumstances were totally changed now and Pakistan could not open its border with Afghanistan like 40 years before. Both the countries should cooperate with each other and work together for eradicating terrorism, he added. He pointed out that almost 70 percent area of Afghanistan was not under the control of its government and terrorist organisations and Taliban were moving freely there. The foreign minister maintained that Afghanistan and international community should play their role for returning the Afghan refugees to their homeland from Pakistan. He further said evidences provided by the Afghan government regarding Swat incident were not credible, adding that peace had established in Swat for many years and people of the area were moving there without any fear. He said some people were not in favour of establishing durable peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan and wanted to create confrontations between both the countries. He said a peaceful Afghanistan was in favour of Pakistan, adding his country wanted peaceful resolution of Afghanistan issue. In a good move a high level Pakistani delegation comprising of senior civilian and military officials led by Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Ms.Tehmina Janjua has recently visited Kabul to hold discussion with their Afghan counterparts led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai on Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity- a joint action plan for cooperation in the areas of counter-terrorism and reduction of violence, peace and reconciliation, refugees repatriation and joint economic development.
The progress made by Pakistan and Afghanistan on the Joint Action Plan and decision to continue discussion on important bilateral matters is welcoming. Pakistan has achieved significant contributions in war against terrorism. To consolidate these gains it is imperative to resolve the issue of Afghan’s refugees. Foreign Minister’s has rightly said that Pakistan and Afghanistan border management was very essential for eliminating terrorism in two countries. Afghanistan should extend full cooperation with Pakistan in anti-terrorism efforts particularly in the areas of boarder management and refugees repatriation instead of indulging blame game against Pakistan. We hope both sides will move further to extend cooperation in the areas of counter-terrorism, refugees’ repatriation and boarder management under Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity.
