ISLAMABAD: When US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Islamabad last week, he tried to convince top P
akistani civilian and military leadership that his country’s quest for India’s role in Afghanistan was limited to economic activities only, an official who was part of the meeting told Daily Times.
The assurance came amid growing concerns in P
akistan about India’s growing involvement in Afghanistan. Even the Foreign Office insisted last week that “it has been proven that India is involved in perpetrating terrorism and terror financing in P
akistan and also nurturing TTP, JuA and their affiliates in Afghanistan against P
akistan.” “You are aware of the statements issued from India that have established without doubt Indian involvement in state-terrorism in P
akistan, its use of Afghan soil and Afghan terrorist elements to launch terrorism in P
akistan,” Nafees Zakaria had said on Oct 27.
Afghan officials, however, disagree with P
akistan’s notion about India’s role. President Ashraf Ghani in his recent remarks asked P
akistan to provide ‘evidence’ of Indian involvement in anti-P
akistan activities in Afghanistan. Afghan envoy in Islamabad Omar Zakhilwal in a series of interviews has also rejected P
akistan stance as an ‘insult to Afghanistan’s sovereignty’. The official told Daily Times that P
akistani side conveyed serious concerns on the US policy of pressing for India’s major role in Afghanistan. “On P
akistan’s concern about Indian role in Afghanistan, Tillerson said that is only economic,” the official said.
“We demanded the US cut India’s role in Afghanistan. We believe the US move to strengthen Indian strategic role in Afghanistan aims at countering China. US-India -Afghanistan nexus is aimed at countering China,” he added.
The official said P
akistani leaders expressed concerns at Trump administration’s insistence on military solution to the Afghan problem by targeti
ng Taliban leaders, which could increase violence in the war-shattered country and kill chances of reconciliation with the Taliban.
“We insisted that it will be unre
alistic to crush the Taliban leaders. How is it possible to kill them and expect them to come to the table at the same time,” he said. P
akistani officials also conveyed their serious concerns to Tillerson about the US statement against mult
i-billion dollar China-P
akistan Economic Corridor. “We raised objections at US statement and clearly told him (Tillerson) that such statements expose US designs.”
When asked about Tillerson’s demands from P
akistan, the official said they had three messages for P
akistan. They wanted P
akistan must put pressure on Taliban to bri
ng them to the negotiation table, the official said, addi
ng the US also asked P
akistan to take action against them if they refuse to join the peace process.
The official said the US reiterated its call for taking action against what it calls sanctuaries of armed groups on P
akistani soil. “But, we disputed the their assertion of safe havens and told them that P
akistan has already cleared North Waziristan. We explained to them that P
akistan is implementing border management system to stop cross-border movement.” The official said that the US also called for engagement between P
akistan and Afghanistan. “They assured us Washington was ready to cooperate with any mechanism includi
ng the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) consisting Afghanistan, China, P
akistan and Russia to find out a solution to the Afghan conflict.”
Published in Daily Times, October 30th 2017.
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