Army chief to visit Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif will travel to Afghanistan in the last week of the current month for talks with the Afghan government on modalities for resumption of the reconciliation process.
The date for the visit had been decided, a military source said, but was not being disclosed for security reasons.
Pakistan’s strategy for resumption of Afghan peace talks and the army chief’s upcoming visit to Kabul was discussed when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presided over a meeting, which was attended by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, COAS Gen Raheel Sharif, National Security Adviser retired Gen Nasser Khan Janjua, ISI Chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and other officials.
Gen Sharif was initially expected to visit Kabul before the Heart of Asia meeting in Islamabad on Dec 9, but tensions in the relationship prevented the visit from taking place.
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During President Ghani’s visit to Pakistan, the two countries agreed to end the blame game and restart the reconciliation process from where it had been suspended in July following the disclosure of Mullah Omar’s death. The resumed process would function under a new quadrilateral framework also involving China and US, which in the earlier version acted as observers.
The new framework also envisages a steering committee involving representatives of the four countries.
As the four countries wait for settlement of details, the timing and sequencing of the resumed reconciliation process, contacts with militant groups are already under way for convincing them to join the talks.
A final decision in this connection would be taken during a quadrilateral meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan, US and China.
The meeting also discussed issues relating to the Saudi-led military alliance, which Pakistan has joined and matters pertaining to internal security.
Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2015