Afghanistan, Pakistan ties facing downward trajectory

Afghanistan claims that Pakistan was behind the last week terrorist attack in the diplomatic enclave in Kabul which killed more than 100 people, however, Pakistan denies the Afghan allegation, saying that Afghanistan must find the elements involved in the attack on its soil.

Analysts believe that presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan is the main cause of terrorism in the country and as long as they will remain there, terrorists will not stop attacking them.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at a recent conference in Kabul has lashed out at Pakistan alleging that it is waging an 'undeclared war of aggression' against Afghanistan.

Making a statement before a gathering of 23 nations, the European Union, the United Nations and NATO, Ghani asked, 'What will it take to convince Pakistan that a stable Afghanistan helps them and helps our region?'

Despite strained bilateral relations, Pakistan had also participated in the multinational conference.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have long accused each other of turning a blind eye to militants operating along their porous border, and both forces exchanged fire over a border dispute last month.

In a major development Pakistan Army has expressed serious reservations to the accusations and threats directed at Pakistan in the aftermath of the Kabul bombing.

It was observed in the meeting of army commanders that instead of blaming Pakistan, Afghanistan needs to look inward and identify the real issues.

Earlier Pakistan Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had also strongly rejected the allegations leveled against Pakistan from elements inside and outside Afghanistan after the Kabul attack.

In a statement issued by foreign ministry, he said that accusatory approach is instigated by those who have no interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan and their malicious agenda is to damage Afghanistan-Pakistan relations and the cooperation initiatives recently gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Aizaz Chaudhry has said that Afghan terrorism is a threat to Pakistan’s economy.

Aizaz Chaudhry said that our military has swept terrorist groups from the tribal areas of Pakistan, but the gains could be put at risk if the security situation across the border in Afghanistan is not brought under control.

Despite bilateral tensions, Pakistan is hosting 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees and 600,000 unregistered Afghan refugees. Pakistan is trying to accelerate the repatriation of Afghan refugees to meet the dead line of December 2017.

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