Daily Times

After weeks of tension, there are signs of a thaw in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan as Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed met Afghan officials in Kabul to resolve thorny issues. This is a welcome development and it demonstrates Pakistan’s resolve to have friendly relations with Kabul. Both high-profile officials met Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib and discussed ways to resolve the matter of harassment of diplomats in both Kabul and Islamabad, dispute over an Afghan market in Peshawar and border firing incidents. These incidents marred the spirit of Pakistan’s good will gesture of opening the border point round-the-clock at Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in September. The measure was meant to facilitate people and trade between the countries. The modern age demands round-the-clock operations in trade and travel sectors. Both countries were to benefit from the move and bilateral trade went up by 55 percent with the border post’s opening.

Everything was going normally when both governments traded barbs over the issue of the Afghan market last month. After a court verdict over the disputed market, the Peshawar police raided it to remove an Afghan flag hoisted there. The Afghan government put up resistance and took the protest to such a diplomatic level that it closed down its consulate in Peshawar. The dispute had nothing to do with the Pakistani government, as the litigants were a private citizen and the Afghan government, and after years of trial the court decided in favour of the Pakistani man in 1998. The present possessor of the market, the Afghan Bank, did not let the litigant implement the verdict, which resulted first in a police raid, and later the diplomatic row. According to reports, both sides have agreed to resolve the market row through a committee.

Then the rows took a bloody turn when both sides exchanged fire two weeks ago. Guns fell silent after leaving several troops and civilians injured on the Pakistani side of the border in Chitral. Remarkably, Pakistani troops showed restraint to the unprovoked firing from the other side. Lastly, diplomats in both countries also became parties. First, the Afghan foreign ministry alleged that its ambassador in Islamabad was being harassed, but Islamabad countered that diplomats of the Pakistan embassy in Kabul were being attacked on roads, forcing the consular section to suspend its services.

Hopefully, the recent visit will normalise the relations as it will benefit both countries. *