Pak efforts to link Kashmir with Afghan peace process is 'reckless and irresponsible': Afghanistan

[Hitman]

WASHINGTON/KABUL: Pakistan's efforts to link Kashmir with the US-led peace process in Afghanistan was "reckless, unwarranted and irresponsible", Kabul has asserted as it also slammed Islamabad's "sinister intention" to prolong the violence in the country.

Pakistan might redeploy troops from the Afghanistan border to the Kashmir frontier amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, Islamabad's ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan told The New York Times last week which the newspaper said could complicate the ongoing peace talks between America and the Taliban.

Khan's statement came amidst Indo-Pak tensions after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370. Reacting to India's decision, Pakistan expelled the Indian High Commissioner, after deciding to downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi.

Dismissing the Pakistani envoy's "misleading" statement, Afghanistan's ambassador to the US Roya Rahmani asserted that, "Any such statements that link the evolving situation in Kashmir to the Afghan peace efforts are reckless, unwarranted and irresponsible."

In a terse and lengthy statement issued by the Afghan embassy in Washington on Sunday, she said, "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan strongly questions the assertion made by Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, that the ongoing tensions in Kashmir could potentially affect Afghanistan's peace process."

Asserting that Kashmir is "a bilateral issue" between India and Pakistan, Rahmani said her country believes Pakistan's motive and insistence to purposely tie Afghanistan to the Kashmir issue is a deliberate attempt to prolong the violence happening on Afghan soil.

"It is a poor excuse used by Pakistan to justify its inaction against the Taliban and to avoid taking a decisive stance against the militant group," she asserted.

Rahmani said the assertion by the Pakistani ambassador that the Kashmir issue could compel Pakistan to reposition its troops from its western frontier with Afghanistan to its eastern border with India is "a misleading statement which inaccurately suggests that Afghanistan poses a threat" to Pakistan.

"There is no threat from Afghanistan to Pakistan. The Afghan government sees no credible reason for Pakistan to maintain tens of thousands of military troops on its western frontier," she said.

"On the contrary, Afghan stability is frequently threatened by Pakistan-based, sanctioned and supported militant and terrorist groups," Rahmani said.

These groups operate openly from Pakistan-governed spaces and regularly spill over into Afghanistan, she said.

The Pakistani envoy's comments came as the US is keen to end its 18-year involvement in war-ravaged Afghanistan, where it has spent more than $1 trillion. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants American troops out from Afghanistan and has sought Pakistan's help.

"Pakistani authorities should address this problem by undertaking a sincere and forceful law and order measure through police actions inside Pakistan," she said.

Rahmani said the statement by her Pakistani counterpart runs contrary to the positive and constructive engagement Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on his recent visit to the country.

In Kabul, the Afghan Foreign Ministry in a statement, said, Pakistan's attempts to link the the tensions in Kashmir to the peace process in Afghanistan shows the "sinister intention towards peacemaking in Afghanistan."

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan deems irresponsible the assertion made by Pakistani Ambassador to the US that the ongoing tensions in Kashmir could potentially affect the peace process in Afghanistan, the statement said.

"The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan emphasising the good neighbourhood and resolving regional challenges through talks wants Pakistan's sincerity in its committed actions for helping in Afghanistan's peace process," it said.

The US and Taliban recently concluded secret talks apparently facilitated by Pakistan in Doha, Qatar on a possible deal deal between Washington and the Islamist extremist group that would see the Pentagon begin to withdraw its nearly 14,000 soldiers from the war-torn country.

Recent media reports suggested that an agreement could be imminent and the deal mainly relies on Taliban guarantees they will stop jihadist groups such as al-Qaida and ISIS from using Afghanistan as a safe haven.

"We must accelerate the Afghan Peace Process including intra-Afghan negotiations. Success here will put Afghans in a much stronger position to defeat ISIS," US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted.

Link: https://m.timesofindia.com/world/so...impact-peace-process/articleshow/70732579.cms

 

[blackanhyellow]

Pakistan was stating facts. If there is a problem on the eastern border, pakistans already limited resources will be under strain, this will effect the allocation of resources on the western border.

Less troops on the western border means more space for different organizations and less pressure on different factions to come to terms with the peace deal.

Its not rocket science.

And lol at the statement saying Pakistan is not at risk from afghanistan.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Current leadership is worried as it's time is near the end. Not even its Hindutva friends can save them now.

 

[JaDed]

Current leadership is worried as it's time is near the end. Not even its Hindutva friends can save them now.

Save from whom?

 

[KingKhanWC]

Save from whom?

From losing control of Afghanistan. US wants a peace deal with Taliban which will involve them in the political process.

Try keeping up the news outside of India.

 

[cricketjoshila]

From losing control of Afghanistan. US wants a peace deal with Taliban which will involve them in the political process.

Try keeping up the news outside of India.

And that peace deal will mean that only Taliban have power?

 

[KingKhanWC]

And that peace deal will mean that only Taliban have power?

lol. Wait until the deal is done, im sure we will find out. Modi fans might be able to see if the future but the rest of us are living in the real world.

 

[cricketjoshila]

lol. Wait until the deal is done, im sure we will find out. Modi fans might be able to see if the future but the rest of us are living in the real world.

You live in the real world?

Lets find out. Btw Taliban too slammed any efforts to link Afghan peace process with Kashmir.

 

[JaDed]

lol. Wait until the deal is done, im sure we will find out. Modi fans might be able to see if the future but the rest of us are living in the real world.

You are the one that claimed no one can save Afghan current leadership , I asked from whom you said Taliban.. the only one predicting the future here was you..

 

[Lonewarrior]

You live in the real world?

Lets find out. Btw Taliban too slammed any efforts to link Afghan peace process with Kashmir.

some journalists from inside told the media that, theres a formula where the US is agreed that Taliban can implement the sharia in afghanistan ...

 

[KingKhanWC]

You live in the real world?

Lets find out. Btw Taliban too slammed any efforts to link Afghan peace process with Kashmir.

I never mentioned Kashmir in my post. But yes it shouldn't have any link but it does because India wont have the influence in Afghanistan very soon.

You are the one that claimed no one can save Afghan current leadership , I asked from whom you said Taliban.. the only one predicting the future here was you..

They wont have the same control, this is not a prediction but an accepted part of any deal. Im saying we dont know the exact details yet because the deal is yet to be done. Its like educating a child ...for free!

 

[HussainRx8]

LOL. The current Afghan government is against the US initiated peace process anyway. This seems a bit redundant on their part.

 

[Waseem]

Irresponsible.............

 

[Pete Rose]

the government of the Kabul presidential palace is in a tough spot. I feel for them

 

[MenInG]

Posts deleted and some people banned.

Watch what you post and dont get rude or personal

 

[rhony]

Afghanistan is a loser country despite their grandiose and boasts of being "unbeatable". They have successfully stoned themselves to stone age. You have the "Northern Alliance" that is now a nincompoop. You have Taliban that's all of a sudden the saner of the evils apparently and then there's the blood thirsty ISIS. Where is the future? They keep playing the same game again and again and push themselves to oblivion. Drug addicted tribes with archaic views, delusional thoughts have ruined the entire region for decades and this will continue for decades. There is no solution for this except for one. All the countries should surround them so nobody gets out and nobody gets in.