Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Haneef Atmar led a high level delegation in his visit to Pakistan on Tuesday for talks on anti-terror cooperation and to explore prospects for reconciliation, Afghan officials said.

Afghan Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi confirmed the visit on his official Facebook page.

“The delegation was scheduled to discuss ceasefire and reconciliation,” Rahimi said.

He said Afghan intelligence chief Masoom Stanekzai and Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak accompanied Atmar.

Daily Times learnt the Afghan delegation wrapped up talks in Islamabad with Pakistani security officials and returned Tuesday afternoon.

No official statement was issued by both sides; however, officials privy to the visit said Pakistani and Afghan officials held follow up discussions of their last meeting in Islamabad in May, in which both sides had agreed to operationalized joint working groups, including military to military and intelligence cooperation.

The Afghan delegation met senior Pakistani intelligence and military officials after the two countries agreed on key principles of a recently launched dialogue mechanism that call for action against irreconcilable and elements and fugitives in both countries.

Both have also committed to deny territories to anti-state groups or individuals on either side of the border under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity or APAPPS.

The visit comes days after an American spy aircraft killed chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mulla Fazalullah in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province. President Ghani took credit for elimination of Fazalullah on June 13 in his telephonic talk with caretaker Prime Minister Nasir ul Mulk and army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Sources said both sides discussed creating a joint supervision, coordination, and confirmation mechanism through Liaison Officers (LOs) in both capitals for the realization of the agreed actions. They also held further discussions on the establishment of the Ground Coordination Centers at major crossing points of Torkham and Chaman.

It was the second visit to Pakistan by the Afghan NSA and his high level team in less than a month.

Earlier Atmar visited Pakistan on May 28 and had held talks with the army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, during which they had agreed that both countries have suffered heavily due to prolonged conflict and must together explore ways to usher peace in the region by defeating the common enemy.

Reconciliation with the Taliban is one of the important items on agenda and the both sides had tasked intelligence chiefs to explore ways how to encourage the Taliban join the peace process.

Atmar visited Pakistan at a time when the US and President Ghani have sent positive messages to the Taliban. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 16 the US is “prepared to support, facilitate and participate in these discussions.”

In order to convince the Taliban, President Ghani wrote on Twitter the Afghan government is ready to discuss issues of mutual concern with neighboring countries, and presence of foreign forces.

This is the first time Mr Ghani showed willingness to talk about the “presence of foreign forces” to address to the Taliban repeated calls for the withdrawal of the foreign forces.

Published in Daily Times, June 20^th 2018.