Bajwa, Afghan NSA discuss border management

ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa discussed border management and the Afghan reconciliation process with National Security Adviser of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib.

“Mr Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Adviser (NSA) of Afghanistan called on General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS). During the meeting, matters related to mutual interest, peace and stability in the region, Pak-Afghan border management and prospects for peace with particular emphasis on reconciliation process in Afghanistan were discussed,” the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement was issued a day after Mr Mohib visited Rawalpindi on a daylong trip heading a delegation comprising Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi and other officials on the invitation of Gen Bajwa.

Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood had reportedly attended the delegation-level talks in Rawalpindi.

The visit precedes the likely visit by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Islamabad.

Mr Ghani was invited for a visit when he phoned Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 5 for discussing ongoing peace efforts, security, and bilateral economic cooperation.

The Afghan president accepted the invitation for the visit during which he, according to officials, would “hold comprehensive exchange of views on all issues of mutual interest”.

Mr Mohib’s visit also marks a sort of resumption of high-level contacts between the two neighbours that had been virtually suspended since last November. The last major interaction was under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity forum when the two sides discussed repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

The development took place amidst a deadlock in the ongoing talks between the United States and the Taliban in Doha. The talks are stalemated over initiation of an intra-Afghan dialogue and reduction in violence.

The Taliban are linking both issues to a timeframe for withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2019