Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday sought to dispel fears in Pakistan about Afghan territory being used by India to stir trouble in the restive province of Balochistan. In Pakistan with a high-level delegation to discuss ways to root out terrorism from the region ahead of the planned pull out of international forces from Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari maintained the two countries had a common cause in regional peace.
Asked how Afghanistan could accept Pakistani hospitality for years and yet allow India to destabilise Pakistan from Afghan soil, Mr. Karzai said: “I will speak with a clear voice and a clear conscience. Afghanistan will be committing a great wrong to itself if we allow our territory to be used by any other country against Pakistan. This is not in the interest of Afghanistan. Please trust us on that. We will not allow that.”
As for the specific charge of Afghanistan providing refuge to leading Baloch insurgency leader Bramdagh Bugti — who is said to have an Indian passport — Mr. Karzai said if Pakistan thought he was a criminal and provided evidence, Kabul would act on it.
At the same time, he made no secret of India's contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan; maintaining that New Delhi was one of the leading contributors to this exercise.
Describing their talks as a “step forward”, both Presidents — at a joint press conference after delegation-level meetings — confirmed discussing Afghanistan's attempt at reconciliation with those terrorists prepared to accept the Constitution and return to the mainstream. About the reconciliation process, Mr. Karzai said: “While continuing the campaign against Al-Qaeda and its allies, we will also seek other avenues to bring stability to Afghanistan and by extension to Pakistan and the region.”
According to Mr. Zardari, both sides explored ways of transforming the geo-political identity of the region into a positive force for the people of the two nations.
On Afghanistan's National Security Adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta's charge that Pakistan's intelligence agencies continued to provide shelter to terrorist networks, Mr. Karzai said this was discussed.
“The reality is that both are suffering from terrorism and the terrorists must have a base somewhere. They are not coming from Burkina Faso or the Ivory Coast. They must be originating from our soil. We discussed ways to go after their training grounds, financial sources….This openness in our dialogue is a step forward in our relations. It is an engagement that is substantive and issue-oriented.”
