A senior U.S. diplomat has called on Pakistan and Afghanistan to enhance border cooperation to counter violent extremism plaguing the region and has advised them against “employing militancy as an instrument of policy”.  

James Dobbins, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan held detailed talks with Pakistani political and military leaders that largely focused on Islamabad’s counter-militancy efforts and its contributions to the U.S.-led international campaign aimed at stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan.

Speaking to Pakistan’s state-run television late Friday, he said the United States is supportive of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to engage the Pakistani Taliban in talks for ending the problem of militancy.  He added that Pakistani leaders are also determined to use force if necessary to confront the security challenges facing their country

“We support Pakistan’s efforts to establish the rule of law in Pakistan to eliminate violent extremism, not just the violent extremists who attack Pakistan, but the violent extremists who operate from Pakistani territory and attack neighboring societies. We believe that the Nawaz government and the Pakistani army are also committed to moving to reduce and eventually eliminate this kind of violent extremism and we think that would be very positive in terms of Afghanistan’s future development," said Dobbins.

Pakistan has long been accused of supporting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and allowing it to use Pakistani areas for cross-border raids. However, lately, Islamabad has accused Afghan authorities of sheltering Pakistani militants and helping them stage attacks inside Pakistan. Dobbins acknowledged that the cross-border militancy is a mutual problem and the United States is prepared to help the countries address it, urging them not to officially support militant forces.

“I think all of the states of the region need to avoid employing militancy as an instrument of policy that this has been a long term strategy which has created a cancer in societies and, in particularly, in Pakistan society which is now threatening the actual existence of the state and of its democratic institutions,” he said.

The American envoy avoided direct comments on Afghanistan’s reluctance to formally recognize its 2500 kilometer porous border with Pakistan as an international frontier. He added that while the countries defer the larger legal issue involving their common border until sometime in the future, Kabul should be ready to sit down and work with Islamabad to arrange a more orderly and regulated way of cross-border movement  to discourage militant activity.

Dobbins said that Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan under Prime Minister Sharif have improved, admitting that Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s recent criticism of Islamabad has caused friction.

“There continues to be irritations. President Karzai has been critical of Pakistan he has been equally critical of the United States to be fair. I think both of the likely candidates for the presidency in Afghanistan and it looks probable that those will be Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, although we are still awaiting final results and I don’t want to prejudice those, I think both of them will look for a close relationship with the United States and I think both of them will also look to an improved relationship with Pakistan," said Dobbins.

He says that Pakistan’s role to promote a peace and reconciliation process with the Taliban in Afghanistan remains important. Dobbins added the Taliban is not willing to meet with the current Afghan leadership but the United States is hopeful that in the aftermath of the presidential election and reduction of Western presence in Afghanistan, the insurgent group will have to re-evaluate its position and decide whether or not to talk to the future government, which will be widely recognized and broadly respected. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: War and Conflict