Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that the fencing along the porous Pak-Afghan border will stop cross border infiltration of militants and help eliminate terrorism. In an interview with the New York-based Bloomberg news agency, he said any free movement across the border can breed terrorist activity on both sides. He urged the United States to provide assistance in completing this project as it is very important to stop the terrorist movement.
The Minister said the fencing of the border will be completed by the end of next year. He said Pakistan also considers the return of more than two million Afghan refugees to their country as critical for peace. The United States should assist in this regard. He said the roughly six hundred thousand Afghan refugees that went back to their country last year have largely returned to Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are witnessing tense ties for many years and border fencing is an issue which is being discussed for restoring peace in the war-ravaged country. It may be noted that an Afghan delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai is in Islamabad to hold the second round of discussion on Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity.
The action plan is aimed at co-operation in the areas of counter-terrorism and reduction of violence, peace and reconciliation, Afghan refugees' repatriation and joint economic development.
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