KABUL, March 1: Participants of a Pakistan-Afghanistan Track 11 dialogue Tuesday extended their support to the Quadrilateral Coordination Group which is pushing for the intra-Afghan reconciliation.
In a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the two-day talks, the delegates urged both governments to continue their efforts for peace and increase counter-terror and security cooperation. Joint efforts are needed to crush terrorism which is a common enemy of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The ice-breaking engagement between Afghanistan and Pakistan at both official and private level must continue to help remove the bilateral trust. Mutually agreeable confidence building measures could help in achieving these objectives,” the statement said.
The dialogue said that statements hurting the sentiments must be avoided by both sides and that the civil society should put pressure on stakeholders to pursue mutual peace & prosperity.
“Media on both sides could play a crucial role in correcting the narrative on each other, the delegates concurred and called on both governments to help facilitate Afghan and Pakistani media’s reporting from their respective regions.”
These views were presented by Pakistani and Afghan regional security experts during their third regional security workshop in Kabul.
The delegates included MPs, former officials, diplomats, media persons and members of the civil society.
The workshop was the sixth major round in the series of meetings between civil society and regional security experts of both countries as part of “Beyond Boundaries”, a major Af-Pak track 1.5 and II initiative launched by an Islamabad based Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) – in partnership with its Afghan counterpart organization, DURAN Research and Analysis (DRA) and sub-national partner (Pakistan), the Foundation for Integrated Development Action (FIDA) as an effort to improve relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, soothe bitter context, tackle trust deficit which can somehow de-escalate the heightened tensions and improve mutual perceptions.
The dialogue also called for early completion of talks on a new agreement on trade and transit between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and for efforts on both sides to facilitate trade between the two countries.
“We call for joint efforts to expedite the development of the CASA-1000 and TAPI projects. We call on both governments to expedite the completion of Pakistani aid projects within Afghanistan,” it said.
The sessions, chaired by Professor AnatolLieven of School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Georgetown University discussed Afghanistan Pakistan security paradigm, with focus on the ongoing bilateral initiatives, its implications and way forward, the impediments and opportunities for trade and economic cooperation and steps to improve relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and emphasized on the need for media engagement and coverage in both countries. -DNA
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