ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to continue working for peace in Afghanistan, but also pointed to the worrying nexus between Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies hurting Pak-Afghan relationship.

This was stated by the Prime Minister’s Office after a special meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), whose agenda was dominated by recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Kabul’s effort to pin the blame on Pakistan.

The NSC meeting followed a special meeting of the corps commanders a day earlier. The corps commanders too had met to deliberate on the situation in Afghanistan and the strategy to deal with the challenges that may come up for Pakistan.

It is unusual, if not unprecedented, for Pakistani authorities to act with such urgency to deal with the aftermath of terrorist strikes in Afghanis­tan, which have quite often been followed by allegations against Pakistan.

The back-to-back meetings indicate pressure on Pakis­tan for doing more for peace in Afghanistan. This international pressure is also forcing Afghanistan, after the outburst against Pakistan, to engage the neighbour. This is evident from President Ashraf Ghani’s comments at the meeting of Kabul Process in which he expressed his desire to work with Islamabad despite what he described as his frustrations at dealing with it.

“Pakistan remains committed to continue its ongoing efforts for local, regional and global peace,” the statement on the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said.

“Pakistan has not only remained committed to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan but also worked with all regional and global initiatives to that end,” it added.

The statement closely echoed the proceedings of the corps commanders’ conference during which the military leadership “vowed to continue its support and cooperation with Afghanistan in fight against terrorism and militancy”.

Nevertheless, the acrimony generated by allegation of Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) about the Inter-Services Intelligence’s role in the attack in Kabul’s diplomatic area reflected in the statement on the NSC meeting. NDS allegations have been strongly rejected at all levels of the Pakistan government.

“Pakistan is fully cognizant of institutional collaboration by elements hostile to Pakistan and will defend itself resolutely against manifest and future threats,” the NSC noted in a reference to the cooperation between the NDS and Indian spy organisation Research and Analysis Wing. The two spy agencies are believed to be collaborating to undermine Pakistan’s security interests and malign it.

The NSC recalled that Islamabad had in the past shown ‘exceptional restraint’ when Afghan territory was used to launch attacks in Pakistan that resulted in massive human losses.

“Pakistan is the only country in the Afghan equation which has achieved clear and measurable success against terrorism despite limited capacity and huge human and economic costs,” it noted.

The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah and Director General of the ISI Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2017