Daily Times

Former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, says he favours a “civilised relationship” with Pakistan in an extremism-free environment that should be based on a goodwill and mutual respect.

Speaking to Daily Times at his residence in capital Kabul Karzai recognised Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process and insisted Pakistan should use its role for stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.

“Yes. There was a role of Pakistan in the peace process and we are happy at this role and want Pakistan intensifies this role. We welcome Islamabad’s approach for peace in Afghanistan. We desire this role should be stepped up,” the Afghan leader said.

“We think Pakistan has influence in Afghanistan. This is a reality and this role should be used for Afghanistan’s welfare, prosperity, restoration of peace and this will pave the way for friendship between the two countries” the Afghan leader said.

To a question about Pakistan’s possible role in implementation of the Taliban-US agreement, he said Pakistan and neighboring countries have a role in the implementation.

The Taliban and the US struck a landmark agreement for peace in Afghanistan on Feb. 29 for withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months, however, controversy over the release of Taliban prisoners has raised concerns over possible complication in implementation of the deal.

Taliban have refused to take part in the intra-Afghan dialogue scheduled to start on March 10 unless their 5000 detainees are released. President Ashraf Ghani says release of the prisoners should not be a condition and that the prisoner issue should be discussed in the intra-Afghan negotiations.

Karzai said he will visit Pakistan if he is invited by the Pakistani government.

“Whenever the government of Pakistan invites me I will happily and quickly visit Pakistan. I still remember walk on the tracks of Islamabad’s Margalla Hills. I like Islamabad. I like Peshawar, Quetta and Lahore,” said the Afghan leader, who lived in Pakistan for nearly 25 years, mostly in Balochistan.

He said former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had twice invited him but he could not pay the visit as the “atmosphere was not suitable in Pakistan” for the visit. He said he travelled to London in January to inquire about Nawaz Sharif, whom he described as a “nice, friendly and patriot person.”

When asked about irritants in relations with Pakistan during his over 10 years tenure, Karzai said some incidents and the situation that time caused some problems between the two countries.

“We had complaints about the policies to keep extremists and efforts to destabilise Afghanistan and to support other countries and weaken Afghanistan. These are some of the reasons,” the Afghan leader claimed.

He evaded a question as to who were responsible for problems in relations during his tenure and said “let’s forget the past and look towards the future. There should be dialogue between the two countries and goodwill. We have good intentions towards Pakistan. Afghanistan will give a very positive response if Pakistan comes up with a positive approach.”

But when his attention was invited to Kabul’s reluctance to host the meetings of Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity or APAPPS and a transit monitoring committee, he said steps should be taken first to remove mistrust that will pave the way for bilateral talks.

Afghan political tension:

Replying to a volley of questions about the political tension between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah and its possible impact on the Taliban-US deal, Karzai said the tension will not have a major impact on the intra-Afghan dialogue. Ghani and Abdullah have planned to hold their swearing-in ceremonies on Monday and both sides have invited guests to separate ceremonies. As the country’s election commission last month declared Ghani as the winner of the September’s presidential elections, Dr Abdullah announced he had won the elections and would formal a parallel government. Afghan media reported that US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been shuttling between rival sides to find out a solution. He met Dr Abdullah and asked him to cancel his inauguration, according to reports.

Karzai, who had been mediating between the two sides, said political tensions will be resolved as efforts for this purpose are underway. He also said tension will not affect the intra-Afghan negotiations.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani delegation reached Kabul on Sunday to attend President Ghani’s oath taking ceremony. The delegation included Aftab Sherpao, Afrasiab Khattak, Bushra Gohar and ANP’s Asghar Khan Achakzai.

Members of the National Assembly from North Waziristan Mohsin Dawar said on Sunday that the authorities stopped him and Ali Waziri, MNA from South Waziristan, from flying to Kabul. The Afghan embassy had invited them and other leaders for inauguration of President Ghani.