A roundtable discussion on Pakistan and Afghanistan has suggested for giving a chance to an all-encompassing diplomacy where all segments of society including intelligentsia, religious leaders, media, academia and traders play their positive role for reducing frictions and creating an atmosphere conducive for peace and tranquillity.
“It’s time to make use of `Citizen Diplomacy’ through meaningful people-to-people contact for improving relations between the two neighbouring countries,” it added.
Relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan is complex and this complexity has immediate, as well as far reaching implications not only for both countries but the region as well, observed participants of the roundtable.
According to a press release issued here on Sunday, the roundtable titled as “Pakistan-Afghanistan Tensions and Their Regional Implications” was organized by Advocacy for Sustainable Policy and Implementation Reforms (Aspire-KP), a not-for-profit and registered platform of public service professionals from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Former Chief Secretary KP and Chairman Aspire, Muhammad Shehzad Arbab opened the deliberations with a brief introduction of Aspire-KP and objectives of the roundtable.
The participants of the roundtable made several recommendations and observed that being neighbours, Pakistan and Afghanistan are dependent on each other in so many ways and it is almost impossible for both to find alternatives for substituting this dependency.
It was also suggested that government may press into service the intellect and experience of those who understand Afghanistan and Afghans. It will lead to reinforcement of our approach to the subject. “Conflict, friction and tension do not resolve differences and will create more problems miseries for both countries especially the Pashtuns,” it added.
The loss for Afghanistan will be catastrophic in view of its current situation of economic and social instability, the roundtable warned.
The roundtable observed that separating trade from politics is in the interest of people in both the countries as Pakistan and Afghanistan are centuries old trading partners.
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, traders, exporters, importers, and clearing agents are major stakeholders in Pak-Afghan trade and marginalizing of these stakeholders will have devastating effect on the trade which will lead to unemployment and resultant militancy in the region.
Likewise, students seeking admissions in different universities in Pakistan may be allowed to carry on their education and complete their higher studies.
Regarding repatriation of Afghan refugees, the roundtable recommends a high degree of care and stringent oversight to eliminate the impression of maltreatment and excesses.
Those who attended the roundtable included Habibullah Khan Khattak, Former ACS FATA and Federal Secretary, Arbab Muhammad Arif, Former Home Secretary and ACS FATA, Himayatullah Khan, Former Federal Secretary, Zaffar Iqbal, Zia ul Haq Sarhadi Senior Vice President PAJCCI, Former Senior Member Board of Revenue, Rukhshanda Naz, Former Ombudsperson KP, Dr Muhammad Rasul Jan, Former VC, Dr Qibla Ayaz, Former Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology, Dr Azmat Hayat, former VC Peshawar, Senator Nur ul-Haq Qadri and others.