KABUL Army links with Afghan militants have vitiated Kabul-Islamabad relations, though civilian leaders in both countries desire normalisation of ties, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said on Wednesday.
“While it will require considerable effort to end deep-seated animosity, both countries share close ethnic, linguistic, religious and economic ties. Longstanding Afghan migration,” it said.
Military-devised interventionist policies, based on perceived national security interests, including support for Afghan proxies, had marred the relationship between the neighbours, an ICG report said, adding Pakistan could engage more constructively with its neighbour by recalibrating relations toward economic links and seeking solutions to the presence of refugees on its soil.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s effort to stabilise a faltering economy would fail in the absence of security and hampered by an unstable neighbour; hence his government had reached out to Afghanistan, the report added.
But the Pakistani military high command continues to hedge its bets, either actively or tacitly supporting a resurgent insurgency, which threatens to undermine Afghanistan’s transition, according the group, which alleged the command and control of the three main militant groups – Mullah and al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network are based in and operate from Pakistan.
With the support of their Afghan counterparts, Pakistani tribal extremists were challenging the state’s writ, particularly in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, the report continued.
The opening of space for Pakistani extremists, using their ties with Afghan counterparts, to attack targets from safe havens in Afghanistan, weakened the importance of ending all support to Afghan proxies. “Yet, much depends on the ability of civilian governments in Pakistan to wrest control over national security and foreign policy from the military…”
The new government in Kabul is reaching out to Pakistan, offering Sharif the opportunity to reset the relationship by expanding ties beyond a narrow security focus, the group said, asking Islamabad to work with Kabul to expand economic ties, including by expanding infrastructure, reducing security measures, combating corruption and beginning talks on a free-trade agreement.
“Islamabad should sign and ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Until it does, it should enact a national law for refugees that codifies long-term protections and rights, and respects the right of non-refoulement.”
pr/mud
