Islamabad: Afghanistan has refused to participate in a meeting of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) at the last minute as relations with Pakistan are at the lowest ebb after a recent outburst by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani against Islamabad.
On Sunday, Afghan Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi told his counterpart Ishaq Dar about his government’s decision to call off the JEC meeting just before his plane was scheduled to take off for Islamabad, said sources in the Ministry of Finance.
Hakim called when Pakistani protocol staff prepared to welcome the delegation at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad. The 10th JEC meeting, expected to cover all economic matters, was slated for August 24 and 25.
The commission was supposed to take up for discussion 55 items, including three-dozen burning issues, sources said. These included transit trade, access for Afghan cargo traffic to Pakistan’s border posts and integration of the customs system of the two sides to curb smuggling.
The progress on infrastructure and social sector projects, which Pakistan was funding, was also on the agenda. In the past couple of months, the government has removed the irritants delaying the implementation of these schemes.
Pakistan was expecting a breakthrough on most outstanding issues, sources added. Relations between the two neighbors gradually improved after forming a unity government with President Ashraf Ghani. However, ties soured after a sudden spike in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan, blamed on militants allegedly hiding in Pakistan’s border areas.
Pakistan has condemned the violence and says it remains committed to helping Kabul to end the unrest. However, it stresses that hostile forces in the region do not want to see cordial relations between the two sides.
Dar discussed “the possibility of holding the next Joint Economic Commission meeting in Islamabad in the last quarter of this year,” according to a brief statement issued by the Ministry of Finance on Sunday.
It added both finance ministers discussed various issues of economic cooperation between the two countries.
The finance ministry, however, said the Afghan finance minister could not arrive for the meeting as “the dates clashed with the visit to Afghanistan by the president of Turkmenistan.”
In what appeared to be an Afghan government-backed move, people staged violent protests outside Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul last week, particularly when a Pakistani delegation was on the premises. The delegation had been there to discuss the fate of millions of Afghan refugees staying in Pakistan for the last four decades.
According to sources, a stern warning by the head of Pakistan’s delegation for a tit-for-tat response in Islamabad forced the Afghan government to take the step.
According to the Afghan media, the importers have announced a ban on importing Pakistani medicines and pharmaceutical products, valuing about $4 million annually. The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also endorsed the decision.
Some Afghan religious scholars last week called for a ban on the use of Pakistani currency, which has been a common practice for years in parts of Afghanistan, especially in border regions.
According to defense analysts, regional and international developments of the last two weeks suggest that some forces were joining hands to harm Islamabad’s interests. The military’s decision to launch a ground offensive in the restive tribal areas against militants had drawn appreciation from the western and European powers.
However, now questions are being raised over the military operation; the US has hinted at stopping the release of $300 million in the Coalition Support Fund because Pakistan was not taking action against the Haqqani militant network.
