KARACHI, Jan 10: Various political leaders and intellectuals on Thursday urged the government to take measures for building better diplomatic relations with the new interim government in Kabul.
“Afghanistan, being a gateway to Central Asia, will give boost to trade ties between Pakistan and other countries in the region,” they observed, while speaking at a seminar entitled: “Afghanistan - A New Beginning: An Analysis of Post-Taliban Scenario”, which was organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation here on Thursday.
A former ambassador, Mehdi Masood, spoke on the necessity of better relations with Afghanistan for mutual benefits. He recalled a number of events in 1980s after the Russian aggression in Afghanistan due to which the menace of sectarianism and weaponization took roots in Pakistan.
Mr Masood suggested that all efforts should be directed towards ensuring a policy of reconciliation between the two countries.
“As far as situation in Afghanistan is concerned, Pakistan should forget the past and play its cards well,” he added.
He viewed that the new Afghan government should make agreement with the neighbouring countries and the neighbours should also reciprocate by changing their policies towards Afghanistan.
Raza Rabbani, acting secretary general of PPP, contended that in international politics, everything depended on the national interest.
“If the Northern Alliance is an enemy of Pakistan, it is not necessary that they will remain so in future. Better relations is good for the future of both the countries,” he added.
“Foreign policy should be flexible,” he said, citing an example of Pakistan’s 21 year-old Afghan policy, which was changed overnight under foreign duress.
“A stable Afghanistan can extend vitality and stability not only to Pakistan but to the entire South Asian region,” he observed, adding that maintenance of national unity in the neighbouring country was a major problem for the new government and the problem could be overcome if every group in Afghanistan is given representation in the new setup.
He emphasised on the need for launching a massive deweapenization drive in Afghanistan, besides ensuring maximum representation to women in the development and reconstruction of their country.
A former diplomat and columnist, M.H. Askari, expressing satisfaction on the post-Taliban Afghanistan, apprehended a news item which said that the UN forces would take control of Kabul.
He feared that such designs by the superpowers would only aggravate tension and acrimony.
According to him the relentless bombing by the US in Afghanistan had failed to achieve its desired objectives as none of the wanted terrorists was arrested.
He claimed that stability in Afghanistan would benefit Pakistan and asked the government to recourse to drastic measures to streamline and improve relations with Afghanistan.
President, Awami National Party, Sindh, Amin Khattak, recalled the circumstances, which propelled Afghanistan to the brink of a disaster. He said had the Geneva Accord been implemented, the country could have averted a major catastrophe inflicted on it by the US-led coalition.
He, however, praised the former Taliban regime’s role in maintaining peace in Afghanistan.
Mr Khattak blamed foreign hidden hands, which he said, restrained the Afghans to take decisions through their traditional loya jirga. “The 1000-year-old history bears a testimony to the fact that Afghanistan was never bifurcated on ethnic and sectarian basis,” he maintained.
The moderator of the seminar and a senior journalist, Fazal Qureshi, earlier highlighted the significance of better relations between the two countries.—PPI/APP