Snubbed by India, Afghan; Pakistan pledges sincerity towards ‘lasting peace’
04 December, Amritsar
At the receiving end of unprecedented attack by India and Afghanistan for its alleged complicity in aiding and supporting to terror elements, Pakistan today said it has “unflinching commitment for lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region”.
“It is simplistic to blame only one country (Pakistan) for the recent upsurge in violence. We need to have an objective and holistic view,” Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said at the Heart of Asia conference, which was convened here strictly to evolve mechanism to combat terrorism and establish peace and prosperity in Afghanistan.
Mr Aziz also chose to avoid any reference to Jammu and Kashmir but sought to counter “baseless allegations” from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who earlier snubbed Pakistan and declined to accept its offer of 500-million-US dollars assistance.
“This fund, Mr Aziz, could very well be used to contain extremists because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people,” Mr Ghani had said in his inaugural address in the morning.Ghani also accused Islamabad of launching an “undeclared war” and said the civilian casualties related to militant activities was highest in Afghanistan in 2016.
In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had made veiled attack on Pakistan and said,”Terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan’s peace, stability and prosperity”.
Mr Aziz, however, said, “Pakistan is ready to extend every kind of cooperation for lasting peace in Afghanistan”.
The peaceful resolution to all the longstanding issues is the “only way forward” for regional cooperation and connectivity, he said.
Underlining that his country has been sincere towards peace process in the region, Mr Aziz, however, raked up the SAARC bogey as the regional grouping’s summit in November was put off after India campaigned intensively against Pakistan for the Uri terror strike that led to the martyrdom of 18 Indian Army personnel.
”SAARC is an important forum, not only for promoting regional cooperation but also for the improvement of relations,” he said, adding the postponement of the Summit scheduled in Islamabad in November was a setback “to the spirit of regional cooperation”.
”My participation in the event, despite escalation on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary with India, is testimony to Pakistan’s unflinching commitment for lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region,” Mr Aziz said.
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s trusted aide on foreign affairs – Aziz – also said Pakistan was making serious efforts to facilitate peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government through the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG).
“In our view, there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict and all our efforts should be to achieve a politically negotiated settlement through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process,” he said.
Talking to reporters in Amritsar earlier, Aziz pressed for reviving Indo-Pak talks and said, “If we do not have structured dialogue, then the dialogue through media increases hostility”.
The two-day long Heart of Asia meet also had its share of media frenzy after a handshake between Sartaj Aziz and Indian Prime Minister Modi yesterday.
Mr Aziz had arrived “early” triggering speculation that he could try for a ‘chance’ breakthrough in the bilateral meeting.
Mr Aziz also met Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani separately on the sidelines of the ministerial conference that adopted Amritsar Declaration identifying terrorism as the “biggest threat” to peace and stability.
The Heart of Asia initiative was launched in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours.
Disaster management, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, trade and investment, infrastructures and education are some of the key areas in which 14 countries are pursuing with confidence-building measures to help war-ravaged Afghanistan.