improvement in their strategic ties on Saturday decided to resolve the terror issue and find a negotiated settlement of the insurgency through mutual consultations.
The two countries announced to set up a two-tier high-powered joint commission to carry forward the reconciliation process after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
(According to AFP, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani agreed to boost joint peace efforts with the Taliban insurgents, Karzai said. “The joint peace commission which used to be at the level of foreign ministers has been upgraded by Pakistan to the highest governmental level,” Karzai said.
The Pakistan’s prime minister, the chief of Army staff and the intelligence agency chief would now represent the country on the peace commission, charged with finding a way of reaching a peace deal with the Taliban, Karzai said. He also indicated that Afghanistan would carry out a similar upgrade, and said he and Gilani also discussed other means of speeding up the peace process in both countries.
This would be discussed further during an upcoming visit to Islamabad by Karzai, the Afghan president said, without giving further details.)
The Commission was announced at the Presidential Palace where political leadership and military high command of both the countries were present. It was for the first time that the political and military leaders of the two sides discussed their problems under one-roof by sitting across the table in the wake of the US disquiet about handling of the Taliban and extremism issues before the initiation of withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani announced that Washington was also on board over fresh endeavours for lasting peace and made it unequivocally clear that Islamabad stands by a solution of the problem emerging from within Afghanistan.
Gilani, who reached here by his special 12-seater jet, held extensive talks with the host President, Hamid Karzai, former president and chief of the High Peace Council, Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani, and other leaders in the presence of Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who reached here in their special planes separately.
The prime minister was joined at the talks by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Ch Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister of State for Foreign and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir while all their counterparts from Afghanistan assisted their president in the lengthy talks.
Prime Minister Gilani and President Karzai also held one-on-one meeting just before their working lunch and agreed to form a joint Pak-Afghan Peace and Conciliation Commission. The joint commission will work at two levels. The chief executives of both the countries, army chiefs, heads of intelligence agencies and foreign and interior ministers will comprise the first tier of the commission while foreign and interior secretaries, directors-general of military operations, and directors-general of military intelligence will form the second tier.
Gilani and Karzai discussed various issues, especially terrorism and regional situation. The prime minister assured Karzai that Pakistan had no intention to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. He said Pakistan wanted a united and stable Afghanistan.
Gilani invited Karzai to visit Pakistan. The Afghan president accepted the invitation and said he would be visiting Pakistan soon.
Karzai told the Pakistani delegation that a good progress has been made in talks with the peace-loving Taliban.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who held exhaustive talks here at the Presidential Palace, described the parleys as “historic”, adding, “the two countries stand together as they have shared destinies.”
Gilani said he in consultation with Karzai, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani and members of the High Peace Council, had agreed to establish the two-tier Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Commission for facilitating and promoting reconciliation and peace.
“I have assured President Karzai that Pakistan strongly supports an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process for reconciliation and peace,” Gilani said.
He also extended Pakistan’s full support to the efforts of Karzai and the High Peace Council, for initiating an inclusive process of grand national reconciliation in which all Afghans not only have a stake but the process also promises future peace and stability in their country.
“We firmly believe that this process must have full Afghan ownership,” Prime Minister Gilani said and added that it was for the Afghan nation to determine the parameters on which the reconciliation and peace process would be shaped.
“Conditions, qualifications or demands at this stage, in our view, may not be helpful,” he added.
He said the restoration of stability and peace in Afghanistan was essential for peace, security and well being of the people of Pakistan.
To a question about Asif Zardari’s recent statement wherein he warned that a destabilised Afghanistan could have a negative impact on Pakistan, Gilani said he fully endorses the views. He said his visit was particularly aimed at working out a common strategy to jointly fight terrorism that was a threat to both the nations.
Asked whether the United States was on board the Pak-Afghan talks, Prime Minister Gilani said “the US is on-board. That’s our core group and whatever will be decided, will be among Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US”.
President Karzai, while speaking on the tripartite arrangement, said his country welcomed consultations with the United States in this regard.
He said Pakistan’s role as a facilitator was also important and added that whatever Prime Minister Gilani said was a “fundamental shift” of Pakistan from its views in the past.
“We today have clarity, which never existed earlier,” Karzai said.
President Karzai described the message from Prime Minister Gilani on the reconciliation process as very “clear” and “important” and added that the two sides held detailed talks on all aspects, including the situation in the region and bilateral, political, economic and trade relations.
About the role of the United States in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Gilani said “whatever is the policy of the US on Afghanistan, Pakistan will support Afghanistan”.
Gilani also strongly dispelled the notion that terrorists were entering Afghanistan from Pakistan and said the two countries were already interacting at political, intelligence and defence levels and this cooperation would enhance in the days ahead.
Gilani said he held in-depth consultations with President Karzai on the situation prevailing in the region and various initiatives that were being talked about for promoting reconciliation and peace.
“I would like to laud the efforts of our Afghan brothers and sisters across the length and breadth of Afghanistan to realize their legitimate aspirations for peace and stability.”
Gilani termed the drone attacks “counter-productive” and added that loss of precious human lives could not be just dismissed as “collateral damage”.
He said similarly, suicide attacks, resulting in loss of innocent lives as well as attacks on places of worship were not only inhuman and barbaric but also evidently designed to denigrate Islam and to sow discord among Muslims, communities and societies.
Gilani said his visit to Afghanistan was aimed at reaching out to the Afghani people. He said in his opening remarks that he was here to convey respect and admiration for the great Afghan nation and to renew “deep-rooted bonds of fraternal solidarity”.
Earlier, in a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace, Gilani emphasized on shaping the political settlement that was “home-based” besides being “durable and sustainable”.
He said Pakistan supported an “Afghan-led” solution for the political settlement of Afghanistan and warned that an “outside formula” was not going to work.
Prime Minister Gilani stressed on an “inclusive strategy” encompassing all groups within Afghanistan to share the decision about their country’s future during the meeting.
Gilani who arrived in Kabul on a day-long visit on the invitation of Karzai, said Pakistan was interested in “peace, stability and unity” of Afghanistan and made it clear that it had no intentions to play a leading or substantive role in the political process.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the start of the transition process in Afghanistan on March 23 that would eventually lead to withdrawal of all foreign forces.
Gilani told President Karzai that Pakistan intended to work with Afghanistan on three tracks, the military, and intelligence and political, besides pursuing the development roadmap. He also said that recently the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan had undergone a “sea change”, and termed it a “bilateral process”.
Gilani said the objective was to find a strategic coherence and clarity on Afghan-related issues. He told the Afghan president that it was time for the two countries to take “ownership” of their affairs, conveying to the world that they were mature and responsible enough to deal with their issues whether political or terrorism-related.
The prime minister said his visit was aimed at holding consultation with President Karzai on the modalities of political settlement and reaching out to the Afghan public and other ethnic and political groups.
He recalled his visit to Afghanistan last December where he met Chairman of the High Peace Council Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani and said Pakistan had great respect for President Karzai, Professor Rabbani and all members of the Council.
Gilani mentioned the presence of chief of the army staff and the director general Inter-Services Intelligence along with political representatives in the delegation-level talks and said it showed that all state institutions were “on the same page” over the issue of Afghanistan’s stability.
He said his visit was part of the joint commitment by leadership of both the countries to consult, cooperate and coordinate on all issues of mutual interest and concern.
Expressing his confidence in the efforts of High Peace Council, Gilani said the talks will be fruitful to carry forward peace and stability in Afghanistan. He assured full support and solidarity for Afghan-led peace, reconciliatory process which would bring about peace and prosperity not only for Afghanistan but also for the entire region.
The prime minister said Pakistan is looking forward to the visit of High Peace Council delegation to Pakistan in near future.
Prof Burhanuddin lauded the efforts of both the countries for the understanding reached on the joint commission for peace and stability. He maintained that interaction at the highest level between the leadership of both the countries and at delegation level will further strengthen the brotherly relationship between the two neighbours.
