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Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf to visit Kabul over border fencing issue
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf would visit Afghanistan amid tensions along the border between the two countries.
Pakistani media reported that a meeting of the Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), chaired by Pakistani National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser took the decision.
“A senior delegation of Pakistani officials, headed by the NSA, is scheduled to visit Afghanistan soon for further engagement with the Afghan government on all assistance-related prospects,” Pakistani National Assembly said.
Pakistan, so far, has not announced the date for Yusuf’s visit. A Pakistani official, however, has told Dawn newspaper that the visit would probably take place from January 17-18.
“We will finalize the delegation in a couple of days and then decide the date,” the official said quoted by Dawn.
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan were raised after the Afghan border forces broke sections of the new border fence being erected by Pakistan along the Durand Line this week.
The two countries, however, emphasized resolving the issue through diplomatic channels.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi stated in a tweet that the Islamic Emirate hopes to resolve the problem through “understanding, dialogue, and good neighborliness”, and that they will discuss the issue with Pakistan.
The Pakistani military, meanwhile, said Wednesday that the fencing project along the Durand Line with Afghanistan will continue despite issues raised in recent weeks.
Pakistan began fencing off the border with Afghanistan in summer 2017. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said on Wednesday that 94% of the border fence has been completed and that work on the remaining section continues.
“We are totally focused, and under the western border management regime, the work that is underway will be completed sometime soon,” Iftikhar said.
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Pakistan says cross-Durand Line communities seek peace and stability
Pakistan says communities living along the Afghanistan-Pakistan Durand Line want peace and stability, despite ongoing security concerns in the region.
Speaking during a weekly media briefing, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said there are no major issues between the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, adding that residents on both sides of the Durand Line want peaceful relations and greater regional stability.
However, Andrabi claimed that terrorism originating from Afghan territory continues to undermine peace efforts.
He said Islamabad believes militant activity crossing from Afghanistan remains a significant obstacle to improving regional security and bilateral ties.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly rejected such allegations, maintaining that no militant group is allowed to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries.
Andrabi also said Pakistan remains diplomatically engaged on regional matters involving Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Somalia, stressing that dialogue and diplomacy remain Islamabad’s preferred means of resolving disputes.
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Afghanistan-Gambia ties discussed during Doha meeting
Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening diplomatic engagement and exploring future economic cooperation.
Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate’s embassy in Doha, has met with Omar Jah, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of The Gambia to Qatar, to discuss bilateral relations and areas of mutual interest.
According to a statement from the Afghan embassy in Doha, Jah also oversees Gambian diplomatic affairs related to Afghanistan.
The meeting focused on Afghanistan-Gambia relations, the current security situation in Afghanistan, and potential investment opportunities in the country.
Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening diplomatic engagement and exploring future economic cooperation.
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Pakistan’s Achakzai calls for freer movement across disputed Durand Line
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly and head of the Pakhtunkhwa Awami National Party, has said that if capable statesmen had been in power, people living on both sides of the Durand Line could have moved freely across the line.
Speaking during a podcast interview, Achakzai said that countries with histories of major conflict, including Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom, now maintain far more open borders despite past wars. He said that in many such regions, only a “paper line” remains, with limited border restrictions.
Drawing comparisons with the disputed Durand Line boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Achakzai argued that a similar arrangement could have been possible in South Asia.
“What is the problem here? A Punjabi could dance in Kandahar and a Pashtun could come here. Even if we are not formally one country, we could have effectively functioned like one,” he said.
The Pakistani politician also referred to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the later U.S.-led intervention, saying Afghanistan has the right to seek war reparations from those countries to support reconstruction efforts.
Achakzai further criticised the treatment of Pashtuns in Pakistan, alleging that individuals in cities including Lahore and Karachi have faced detention and deportation.
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