Pak-afghan meet this week
ISLAMABAD — The eighth conference of the Pak-afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) in Pakistani capital Islamabad on January 16-17 will help to normalise relations between the two countries, said a former Pakistani ambassador, Rashid Saleem Khan.
The two-day discussions on mutual trade, economic coordination, transit trade and different bilateral issues will be the first high-level contact between the two neighbouring countries after the assassination of Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul last year, Khan added.
Khan served as DirectorGeneral in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Afghan desk for a number of years. “It will be a great opportunity for both countries to repair their diplomatic relations,” he said.
The Afghan minister of fi- nance, who will lead his country’s delegation, will reach Islamabad with a team of officials and Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry representatives to participate in the JEC. The Afghan delegation is expected to make a courtesy call on the Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pak-afghan ties experienced a serious setback following President Hamid Karzai’s attempts to implicate Islamabad in the assassination of Prof Rabbani. Relations saw further deterioration on November 26, 2011, when Nato helicopters from Afghanistan killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in strikes against two military posts near the Afghan border.
Pakistan retaliated by boy- cotting the Afghanistan conference in Bonn on December 5, sticking to its decision despite Karzai’s requests to the PM.
The forthcoming JEC will also discuss the implementation of decisions taken by the two countries at the previous conference.
To ease the talks, PM Gilani allowed a two-month waiver to the Afghan traders for nonsubmission of financial guarantees for Kabul-bound transit goods in July last year.
He also directed the Ministry of Finance to constitute three committees to resolve the issues pertaining to the JEC. On a priority basis the waiver was extended for another month after the two initial months as officials from both sides could not succeed in resolving the nitty-gritty of the JEC’S issues. — Internews