ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan have once again resorted to the blame game, accusing each other of initiating firing which led to a temporary closure of the Torkham border crossing.
To the September 9 statement by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which the Taliban interim government accused Pakistan of resorting to firing on Afghan security forces while repairing a “years old” border post, the Foreign Office on Monday refuted the claims, insisting that the structure was being built inside Pakistan.
“The statement of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes as a surprise as the Interim Afghan authorities know fully well the reasons for the temporary closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch in response to media queries regarding the statement by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham.
She asserted that Pakistan cannot accept the construction of any structures by the Interim Afghan Government inside its territory since these violate its sovereignty.
On the 6th of September, instead of a peaceful resolution, she added that Afghan troops resorted to indiscriminate firing, targeting Pakistan’s military posts, damaging the infrastructure at the Torkham Border Terminal, and putting the lives of both Pakistani and Afghan civilians at risk, when they were stopped from erecting such unlawful structures.
“Such unprovoked and indiscriminate firing on Pakistani border posts cannot be justified under any circumstances. The unprovoked firing by Afghan border security forces invariably emboldens the terrorist elements,” she said, adding those elements were enjoying sanctuaries inside Afghanistan as confirmed by the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team in its latest report.
“We have always said that we wish the border with Afghanistan to be a border of peace and amity between the two countries. We have welcomed our Afghan brothers and sisters with open arms for decades,” the spokesperson added.
She further said Pakistan had continued to exercise restraint and prioritise dialogue in the face of persistent unwarranted provocations by Afghan troops deployed along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
She said that temporary closures took place only in extreme cases such as the 6th September 2023 incident on the border or when Afghan soil was used to launch terror attacks inside Pakistan.
“The statement of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs also includes some irrelevant comments and unsolicited advice about Pakistan’s economy and foreign trade. For the last several decades, Pakistan has facilitated Afghan transit trade and will continue to do so. However, Pakistan cannot allow the misuse of the transit trade agreement,” she explained.
She added that Pakistan stood ready to resolve all bilateral issues and concerns through constructive dialogue so that both countries could reap the dividends of economic connectivity and resultant prosperity.
“We expect the Afghan interim authorities to be mindful of Pakistan’s concerns, respect the territorial integrity of Pakistan and ensure that the Afghan territory is not used as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Pakistan,” she added.
However, in a statement, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs termed the closure of the Torkham crossing and firing on Afghan security forces by Pakistan as “against good” neighbourly relations.
“The government of Pakistan closed the Torkham gate following the Pakistani security forces opened fire on the Afghan security forces while they were busy repairing an old security post having been built several years back. The closure of the Torkham route has badly affected the trade of both countries and the region, resulting in making businessmen on both sides suffer financial losses,” read the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.
It also alleged that the Pakistani government had earlier stopped hundreds of containers loaded with Afghan goods “under the pretext of the Sensitive List” at Karachi port. “Unfortunately, contrary to previous promises and commitments under international laws, the Pakistani side often creates hindrances at Karachi port and closes the doors under unjustified pretexts during the advent of Afghan agricultural crops and fruits season,” it further alleged.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed.