Afghanistan never signs accord against its interest

Afghanistan government has said that the government has never signed and signs any accord contrary to its national and security interests.

The chief of executive officer said that the Afghan government wants ties with its neighboring countries but our national and security interests are at the top priority.

“I assure Afghan people to never sign any treaty which is against our interests,” Abdullah said.

The spy agencies of Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to share intelligence and carry out “coordinated intelligence operations” against militants operating along their porous border, in the latest sign of improved relations following years of mistrust that undermined the fight against the Taliban.

Previously, Pakistan’s army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa announced the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security in a Twitter post. Bajwa did not say when the accord was signed.

The announcement came days after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with the country’s army chief and the head of the ISI, visited Kabul to step up cooperation in the fight against militants.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have long accused each other of sheltering militants, but relations have improved since Afghan President Ashraf Ghani assumed power last September. An attack on a military-run school in Pakistan in December in which Taliban gunmen killed scores of people, mainly children, seems to have hastened the movement toward greater cooperation.

Both sides have toned down their rhetoric in recent months, and Ghani has sought to reassure Pakistan that Kabul is not working with its archrival India to undermine its interests.

Considerable mistrust remains, and several Afghan lawmakers have criticized the intelligence agreement.

Earlier, a number of Afghan analysts and Afghan citizens said that the agreement signed between the intelligence agencies of Kabul and Islamabad will intensify insecurity and terrorism in Afghanistan.

The analysts warned that if the agreement comes to the practical steps it would cause the discredit of government in the region.
Reported by Farahnaz Forutan