ISLAMABAD: Seasoned politician and Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Sunday said that Pakistan needs to treat its neighbouring country Afghanistan as a sovereign state.
In his keynote address to the participants in a consultation titled: “Afghan peace and reconciliation: Pakistan’s interests and policy options” organized by Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), Senate Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that Pakistan needed to adopt a regional approach to frame any policy towards Afghanistan and treat the neighbouring country as a sovereign state. “Our biggest fallacy on Afghan policy is that we have been playing favorites.”
Senator Sayed further deplored that even after over 40 years, the Afghan story was not over and there were new challenges in this regard. In the context of Pakistan, he said that the focus should be “who makes the policy and what policy should be made.” He also supported the suggestion that a working group should be formed on the Afghan issue.
Former National Security Adviser Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua in his remarks endorsed the view of other experts that policy review is required for Afghanistan. He stressed that the Afghan issue was still unsettled in the larger context and Pakistan should treat the Afghan people with honour and respect. He said that they should keep in mind that banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was a defeated phenomenon. “We want closure of war,” he said, adding that Pakistan should see Afghanistan in the larger context that both have a common future.
Senator Anwaarul Haq Kakar shed light on the issue of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan for decades and said that there was a need to rationalize this matter. He proposed that they should be given permanent resident cards of Pakistan to connect them with the formal economy and tax net.
Defence and strategic affairs analyst Maj-Gen (retd) Inamul Haque disagreed with another participant that there was strong anti-Pakistan sentiment among Taliban ranks and added that such a sentiment was only limited to few people.” He said that Pakistan enjoyed respect among the rank and file of Taliban and common citizens of the neighbouring country. He also rejected the notion that Pakistan’s policy for Afghanistan was flawed and added that there was a problem in its implementation.
Former Ambassador Muhammad Ayaz Wazir also endorsed the view that Pakistan should revisit its policy towards Afghanistan and address reservations of the Afghan people. He said that Pakistan should avoid interfering into the internal affairs of Afghanistan.
Earlier, Director PIPS Muhammad Amir Rana in his introductory remarks said that the primary purpose of the consultation was to take a review of the Afghan situation after one year rule of Taliban, and of the emerging Pak-Afghan relations.
