ISLAMABAD, June 18: Vexed over Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s latest outburst against the Pakistan Army and the ISI, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday that all state institutions unanimously supported peace and stability in Afghanistan and sought reciprocity from that country in combating terrorism.
“The government of Pakistan and all its institutions have unanimity of views on issues of national security and foreign policy. In this context, promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan is an important pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy which is supported by all state institutions,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said in a rejoinder to a statement by the Afghan president in which he had suggested that Pakistan’s military and premier intelligence agency ISI treated Afghanistan as a client state.
The spokesman said the Afghan leader’s interview gave an impression that certain Pakistani institutions were not supporting efforts for peace in Afghanistan.
President Karzai was quoted by Afghanistan’s Tolonews to have said in a television interview: “The military apparatus of Pakistan and its intelligence agency have always been misusing the Afghan goodwill to make Afghanistan’s government work as their puppet and surrender to the evil will of that country.
“We seriously have issues with the military and intelligence agency of Pakistan because they are using extremist methods based on religion to destabilise Afghanistan.”
Pakistan’s official policy has been that of supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned inclusive peace process. In this context Pakistan late last year facilitated Afghan government’s contacts with Taliban leaders imprisoned in its jails by releasing them on the request of the Afghan High Peace Council. Several efforts were also made to remove misgivings between the militaries and intelligence agencies of the two countries. However, the ties took a dramatic downturn earlier this year with Afghanistan raising border controversies.
Although Islamabad has been pursuing a cautious approach in response to provocations from Afghanistan, Pakistani security agencies quite often complain about Afghan government’s non-cooperative attitude in dealing with Pakistani Taliban who have taken up sanctuaries in eastern Afghanistan.
The Foreign Office spokesman also made a reference to this aspect by seeking Kabul’s reciprocity in tackling extremism and terrorism.
“The success of this policy requires reciprocal action and goodwill on the part of the Afghan government. It is in our common interest to jointly address the common challenges of terrorism and extremism being faced by our region,” Mr Chaudhry said.