The agreement was reached during army chief General Raheel Sharif’s daylong trip to Kabul where he met President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah and other senior officials.
The visit came against the backdrop of renewed efforts by the international community to resurrect a moribund peace process between the Ghani administration and a resurgent Taliban. Gen Raheel’s discussions in Kabul were centred on how to revive the process that Pakistan had brokered in July.
The military’s media wing, the ISPR, said in a statement that both sides discussed the way forward for the peace process in Afghanistan and agreed to work within an already agreed quadrilateral framework. With a shared responsibility, all stakeholders would support and ensure success of an Afghan government-led intra-Afghan dialogue and reconciliation, the ISPR said.
In this context, senior officials from Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, and the United States will meet in January to work out a clear and comprehensive roadmap for a meaningful peace process with a clear demarcation of responsibilities of each stakeholder at all stages.
Both sides agreed that they would pursue peace and reconciliation with those Taliban groups which are willing to join the process, it said. However, the elements who would still continue to pursue violence will be dealt under a mutually worked out framework. Security analysts say the announcement is significant because until now Pakistan has been reluctant to use force against the Afghan Taliban.
A senior security official said reconciliation was the only viable option to end a long, deadly conflict in Afghanistan. “But if action is needed against some ‘irreconcilable’ groups, then it has to be done taking into account all stakeholders, including Pakistan,” he added.
The official said Pakistan was hopeful the stalled Afghan peace negotiations would resume soon following renewed efforts by key countries, such as China and the United States. Although the official would not give any timeframe, talks are expected to restart within weeks.
Apart from the reconciliation process, the army chief and the Afghan leadership also discussed mutual security related issues.
The army chief stressed on instituting an efficient mechanism for better coordination and precluding chances of any individual/group crossing over to either side.
“Notwithstanding the complexity of prolonged presence of over 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and intimate cross-border tribal linkages, both sides reiterated not to allow use of their respective soil against each other and agreed to sternly handle any elements crossing over and getting involved in violence on either side, through active intelligence-sharing and intelligence based operations (IBOs),” said the ISPR.
Emphasising the need for improved bilateral relations it was decided to establish a hot-line between the DGMOs (director general military operations) of both countries and increase frequency of military to military visits for better coordination.
According to a statement issued by the presidential palace in Kabul, Gen Raheel and President Ghani “stressed the need to take effective actions against the activities of terrorists in both countries.” They underscored the need for more interactions to deal with the common threat and to build trust for better understanding.
Similarly, Dr Abdullah’s spokesperson said the Afghan chief executive and Pakistan’s army chief agreed on action against those armed groups who refuse to join the peace process. “The two leaders discussed options to take action against those armed groups who refuse to come to the negotiating table,” Javid Faisal said. “Both sides agreed to take quick and strong action against terrorist groups.”
Afghanistan’s foreign minister, acting defence minister, national security adviser, army and intelligence chiefs, and several other senior leaders attended the meeting.
Army chief Gen Raheel also met Gen John F Campbell, Commander of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, and visited the Bagram airbase where he was briefed on the capabilities of the Resolute Support Mission and special operations.
