ISLAMABAD: As bilateral meetings between Pakistan and Afghanistan under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) resumed on Monday, both sides vowed to make the best of this engagement framework for addressing the challenges that keep plaguing their ties.

“The two sides reiterated their commitment to optimally utilise APAPPS to deliberate on all key issues, effectively address common challenges, and pursue new opportunities,” a statement issued by the Foreign Office said after the APAPPS second review meeting in Kabul earlier in the day.

Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood led the Pakistani delegation comprising senior officers at the talks. The Afghan side was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab.

Both sides, moreover, agreed to increase the frequency of the meetings under APAPPS — the ties framework established in 2018 for providing a comprehensive and structured mechanism for institutional engagement between the two countries. The framework comprises five working groups dealing with politico-diplomatic exchanges, military-to-military ties, intelligence sharing, economic cooperation and refugee issues.

Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity second review meeting held

The previous review session was held in June 2019. No subsequent meetings under APAPPS could be held first because of Afghan presidential elections and later due to the controversies surrounding the polls results and more recently because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had in his first telephone conversation with acting Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar, soon after his nomination in April, called for revitalising the dysfunctional APAPPS.

“During the meeting, the entire spectrum of bilateral relations was reviewed,” the FO said.

Speaking at a press conference in Kabul after the meeting, Mr Mirwais, according to Afghan media, said: “We agreed to expand relations of the two countries not only at the bilateral level but with trilateral and multilateral mechanisms.”

He said the Afghan delegation took up matters relating to border fencing by Pakistan, border incidents, problems faced by Afghan refugees in Pakistan, trade and transit issues, and the peace process in the wide-ranging talks.

In-depth discussions on these issues were held in the meetings of the respective working groups.

In the politico-diplomatic working group, the discussion was focused on strengthening bilateral relations through regular high-level exchanges, increased institutional engagement, utilisation of the existing mechanisms, including APTECA and Joint Economic Cooperation, enhanced economic partnership and intensified people-to-people exchanges, the FO said.

At the working group on economy, Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to expanding bilateral trade through facilitation and liberalisation measures and expressed its readiness to commence negotiations on a new Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement.

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Under the military-to-military and intelligence cooperation working groups, the importance of regular exchanges and closer collaboration was emphasised.

The refugee working group, the FO said, discussed all aspects pertaining to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

“The Pakistan side reiterated that the peace and reconciliation process offered a unique opportunity to address the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour. A time-bound, well-resourced roadmap was important in this regard,” the statement said.

Secretary Mahmood, speaking at the meetings, said Pakistan supported peace talks and was awaiting the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue. He cautioned the Afghan side about the challenges in the peace process and said that “perseverance and unflinching commitment” was needed for a successful outcome.

Mr Mahmood said bilateral mechanisms and regular exchanges between the two countries could help the two sides better understand each other’s perspectives.

The foreign secretary and his delegation started the day-long Kabul trip with a meeting with acting Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar.

Mr Atmar noted the improvement in military and security cooperation between the two countries.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2020