ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai was called in by Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Wednesday to convey Pakistan’s concerns over the recent spate of allegations levelled by the Afghan government, media and senior officials to ‘malign’ Pakistan.
In recent times, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and the country’s premier spy agency have issued statements accusing Pakistan and its military of providing implicit support to Taliban insurgents.
While Pakistan has denied such allegations – both the army chief Gen Raheel and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have vowed to help Afghanistan combat terrorism – Afghan officials have constantly criticised Pakistan for failing to take effective measures to curb terrorism on its own soil, which fuels attacks in Afghanistan, they claim.
The foreign secretary stressed that such allegations undercut mutual confidence and affect the environment of bilateral relations that both countries have been working hard to improve, said a handout issued on Wednesday.
“Pakistan has been acting with maximum restraint and avoiding any blame-game,” he added.
Earlier, a strong protest was also lodged on cross-border violations from the Afghan side on August 16 and 17, 2015, which resulted in the death of three FC personnel and injured two others.
The Afghan ambassador was conveyed that, as a matter of policy, “Pakistani authorities do not initiate fire and return fire only in self-defence”.
The foreign secretary further conveyed to the Afghan ambassador that according to the guidance of its leadership, Pakistan would continue its policy of restraint and responsibility and indulge in constructive engagement with Afghanistan. “We expect that the Afghan government would also reciprocate by taking effective measures to obviate recurrence of such incidents on the border, and work with Pakistan to build mutual trust and good-neighbourly relations.” Agencies
