April 04, 2013



Kabul’s apprehension over a routine renovation of a border check post inside Pakistan is totally misplaced as well as unfortunate. The anxiety was expressed by Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin whose statement that the posts were used as a launching pad to fire rockets inside Afghanistan was pegged with the warning of bedevilling the bilateral ties. Responding to the charge, Pakistan’s spokesperson explained that the maintenance work was being done on an old post in line with the tripartite Border SOP, a development that has been brought to the notice of the Afghan government well in advance as a goodwill gesture. He rejected the charge of rocket fire as fiction.

The purpose of the check post is quite obvious; it is part of the strategy meant to stop militants from sneaking into Pakistan. Increased surveillance is indispensable to keeping calm in Fata and to augment Army’s activities to clean up the mess along the border areas, particularly since our constant demands on the Karzai government to arrest cross-border movement have not being given the importance that is their due. If the Afghan government is prone to hallucination, there is arguably very little that can be done to mollify it, particularly when the current regime is beholden to Nato for its hold on power. Kabul must draw a line where it has to stop worrying.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...ons/editorials