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Pakistan, Afghanistan to hold high level security talks
ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistani and Afghan military, intelligence and other security officials will hold talks in Islamabad and Kabul to explore ways for the implementation of key principles of a recently launched bilateral dialogue mechanism, sources said on Thursday. A high level Afghan delegation of military and intelligence officials are due in Pakistan on Monday that […]
ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistani and Afghan military, intelligence and other security officials will hold talks in Islamabad and Kabul to explore ways for the implementation of key principles of a recently launched bilateral dialogue mechanism, sources said on Thursday.
A high level Afghan delegation of military and intelligence officials are due in Pakistan on Monday that will be followed by the visit to Kabul by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the sources told Daily Times.
Both sides are expected to review progress on the security matters, including the appointment of military liaison officers (LOs) in both countries for coordination and to exchange intelligence and monitor the activities of suspects.
LOs officers will accompany security officials in any country for a possible raid if intelligence on the presence of suspects is shared with any side.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are also discussing details of the establishment Ground Coordination Centers (GCCs) at Torkham and Chaman border points for the cross-border monitoring of the suspects. This is seen as a major step to remove mistrust.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and NATO had trilateral coordination centres at Torkham and Chaman until the presence of most of the US-led foreign forces in 2014; however, Pakistan and Afghanistan could not continue the system due to tensions and mistrust. Director General Military Operations will finalize details of the GCCs. More such coordination centres will be established along other crossing points at later stage, the sources said.
The visit of the army chief to Kabul will be important in view of the growing military to military contacts in recent months and the agreement on the establishment of joint working groups, which also include groups on Military to Military Coordination and Intelligence Cooperation.
Five groups are being established under the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) and sources the groups will be finalized before within a week. The groups will start function after Eid, sources say.
President Ashraf Ghani had invited General Bajwa to visit Kabul and Afghan National Security Adviser Haneef Atmar, who led a high level Afghan delegation, delivered the invitation to the army chief on May 27. General Bajwa last met President Ghani in Kabul on October 1 that lad foundation for the high level contacts and agreement on the formation of the working groups.
Peace and reconciliation is also now the task of the security officials of the two countries in line with the discussions between General Bajwa and Haneef Atmar in Rawalpindi on May 27, sources privy to the discussions say.
Both sides had decided that the ISI and NDS chiefs will have more discussion on the issue and they will increase contacts and coordination to work for reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Pakistani and Afghan military and intelligence officials will be meeting at a time when agreement on APAPPS has bridged the trust gap and now both are in the process of the implementation of its seven key principles that include action against “irreconcilable” elements in both countries.
Published in Daily Times, June 8th 2018.
