National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf travelled to Afghanistan the place he mentioned commerce ties and different points with the highest Afghan Taliban leaders who assured him that the Afghan soil wouldn’t be used towards its neighbours, together with Pakistan.
Yusuf, who led a high-level inter-ministerial delegation to Kabul on January 29-30, held talks with Afghanistan’s appearing Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and Acting Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi.Hanafi assured the delegation led by Yusuf that the Afghan soil wouldn’t be used towards its neighbours, together with Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.”The policy of the Islamic Emirate (of Afghanistan) is clear that we will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against [our] neighbours and other countries,” a statement issued by the presidential palace in Kabul quoted Hanafi as saying, according to the paper.Read | Taliban talks in Norway raise new debate about recognition”We additionally need comparable motion from others,” Hanafi mentioned, whereas internet hosting the inter-ministerial delegation within the Afghan capital.Pakistan is but to recognise Afghanistan’s interim authorities led by the Taliban.Yusuf – the third senior Pakistani official to go to Kabul for the reason that Taliban seized energy in Afghanistan in August simply earlier than his go to mentioned that Pakistan was “not completely optimistic” of the Taliban authorities as organised terrorist networks are nonetheless working within the war-torn nation and the Afghan soil remains to be getting used towards his nation.The prime safety official made the remarks whereas briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs right here on Thursday the place he spoke in regards to the menace posed to Pakistan by the presence of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan.His remarks got here within the wake of spike in terrorist assaults in Pakistan since August after the Taliban got here to energy, belying Islamabad’s expectations that they’d take harsh measures towards their former comrades-in-arms and expel them.The Afghan Taliban had persuaded Pakistan to enter into talks with the TTP, which Islamabad did with the useless hope that the Afghan Taliban would use their affect to tame the militant group.The TTP introduced a month-long ceasefire on November 9 and introduced powerful circumstances, together with implementation of their model of Shariah and launch of all detained rebels. The authorities confronted a backlash and refused to just accept the calls for and the TTP refused to increase the ceasefire as soon as it ended.The TTP, generally known as the Pakistan Taliban, was arrange as an umbrella group of a number of militant outfits in 2007. Its fundamental purpose is to impose its strict model of Islam throughout Pakistan.The group, which is believed to be near al-Qaeda, has been blamed for a number of lethal assaults throughout Pakistan, together with an assault on the Army headquarters in 2009, assaults on army bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.Meanwhile, a press release issued by the NSA workplace right here on Sunday mentioned that in his go to to Afghanistan, Yusuf, who additionally heads Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), mentioned commerce ties and different points with the leaders of the host nation.”The goal of the go to was to debate with Afghan management the humanitarian necessities of the nation and Pakistan’s proposals for deepening financial engagement to beat the present challenges Afghanistan is dealing with,” it mentioned.The assertion confirmed Yusuf’s conferences with Hanafi and Acting Foreign Minister Muttaqi, however mentioned they mentioned the present state of affairs in Afghanistan and strengthening of bilateral relations between the 2 nations.He additionally held delegation-level conferences with different related Afghan Ministers and senior officers coping with humanitarian and financial points.The go to yielded substantive outcomes when it comes to ahead motion on commerce facilitation and social sector assist as each side agreed to ascertain a National Level Coordination Mechanism for enhancing facilitation at Border Crossing Points, it mentioned.They additionally agreed to provoke barter commerce, modalities for which can be labored out instantly.During the two-day go to, Pakistan supplied Afghanistan capability constructing and coaching assist in a number of sectors together with Health, Education, Banking, Customs, Railways and Aviation, amongst others, it added.Both sides additionally reiterated their dedication to early completion of the three main connectivity tasks, CASA- 1000, the Turkmenistan AfghanistanPakistanIndia (TAPI) pipeline, and Trans-Afghan Rail undertaking.Afghanistan and Pakistan emphasised their dedication to making sure peace and stability in each nations, the assertion added.
