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Afghan President Receives Unexpected Welcome in Pakistan Afghan President Receives Unexpected Welcome in Pakistan
(about 7 hours later)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Afghan political advisers warned President Ashraf Ghani not to smile when he came here on Wednesday, but he soon found that to be hard going. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Afghan political leaders publicly warned President Ashraf Ghani not to smile when he came to Pakistan for a global conference on Wednesday, but he soon found that to be hard going.
As the Afghan president stepped off his plane at the airport, he appeared surprised to discover that the greeting party far exceeded the demands of protocol: The Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and the country’s military chiefs were on hand, along with many other dignitaries, and an honor guard blasted a 21-gun salute. As the Afghan president stepped off his plane at the Islamabad airport he was surprised to discover that the greeting party far exceeded the demands of protocol, with the Pakistani prime minister and all of the country’s military chiefs on the red carpet along with many other dignitaries, as an honor guard blasted off a 21-gun salute.
It was the sort of welcome normally reserved for prominent allies, like the president of China or the king of Saudi Arabia, not for the leader of the neighboring country with which Pakistan has been in a war of words, if not more, for years — and which has taken a turn for the worse in recent months. It was the sort of welcome normally reserved for visits from prominent Pakistani allies like the president of China or the king of Saudi Arabia — not the leader of the country next door that has been in a war of words, and from time to time guns, with Pakistan for years now, with a turn for the worse in recent months.
Mr. Ghani had been under intense pressure not to visit, even though he was the co-host, with Pakistan, of the Heart of Asia conference, an annual gathering of officials from Asian and other countries. The meeting was billed as an attempt to promote economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors, and was set to be attended by officials from every country in South and Central Asia. Mr. Ghani had been under intense domestic pressure to not even come, even though he was the co-host, with Pakistan, of an event about Afghanistan called the Heart of Asia conference, attended by every other country in south and Central Asia. The welcome was a clear measure that Pakistan wants to mend the frayed relationship.
The warm welcome was a clear measure that Pakistan badly wants to mend that relationship. As many Afghans watched on television, Mr. Ghani did smile a bit at the airport, and he profusely thanked the Pakistani prime minister for the warm welcome. But in a speech to his hosts a little later, he again grimly criticized Pakistan for doing too little to deprive the Taliban of safe havens here.
As many Afghans watched Mr. Ghani’s arrival on television, he smiled a bit, and he thanked Mr. Sharif profusely for the warm welcome.
But in a speech shortly later, he reiterated criticism that Pakistan had failed to deprive the Taliban of havens here.
“We are fighting on behalf of all of you, but we are the ones who are suffering some of the worst atrocities,” Mr. Ghani said.“We are fighting on behalf of all of you, but we are the ones who are suffering some of the worst atrocities,” Mr. Ghani said.
A Facebook posting by Amrullah Saleh, the former intelligence chief of Afghanistan and an ardent critic of Pakistan, on the eve of the visit was representative of views expressed in his country. Typical of the Afghan reaction was a Facebook posting by Amrullah Saleh, a former intelligence chief and ardent critic of Pakistan, on the eve of the visit. “Any member of the Afghan delegation who is found smiling in individual or group photos in the Islamabad conference will be degrading the blood of our eight thousand casualties in 2015,” Mr. Saleh said. He was apparently referring to Afghan police, military and civilian casualties, which have increased greatly this year.
“Any member of the Afghan delegation who is found smiling in individual or group photos in the Islamabad conference will be degrading the blood of our 8,000 casualties in 2015,” Mr. Saleh said. He was apparently referring to Afghan police and military fatalities, which have increased greatly this year. Mr. Ghani suffered major political damage when he announced plans early this year to repair relations with the Pakistanis, in an effort to bring about peace talks that the Pakistanis said they were willing to facilitate. Then last summer, the Afghans discovered that the Pakistanis had been arranging for them to, in effect, negotiate with a dead man, as news leaked out that the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammed Omar had been dead for at least two years.
Mr. Ghani suffered a major political setback when he announced plans early this year to repair relations with Pakistan, an effort to bring about peace talks that Islamabad has made clear it is willing to facilitate. Many felt the leak about Mullah Omar’s death was a deliberate play by the country’s National Directorate of Security which, like Mr. Saleh, has long opposed better relations with Pakistan before the Pakistanis change their policies toward Afghanistan. Scuttling the talks led Mr. Ghani to reject his earlier efforts to reconcile with Pakistan.
Then, over the summer, the Afghans discovered that the Pakistanis were arranging for them to, in effect, negotiate with a dead man, as news leaked out that the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar had been dead for two years. Only in recent weeks have there been some early, tentative steps to restart peace talks with the Taliban, a process that Afghanistan’s Western allies say requires Pakistan’s support to succeed.
Many felt the leak was a deliberate move by the country’s National Directorate of Security, which, like Mr. Saleh, has long opposed better relations with Pakistan. Scuttling the talks led Mr. Ghani to reject his earlier efforts to reconcile with Pakistan. But Mr. Ghani’s government had demanded a series of guarantees from Pakistan before resuming warmer relations, none of which it had received. Hence the pressure on him not to attend Wednesday’s one-day conference, which was billed as an attempt to promote economic and security cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors. The exact demands are not known, but are believed to include guarantees to remove Taliban safe havens in Pakistan, improve treatment of Afghan refugees, and end the treatment of Taliban wounded in Pakistani hospitals.
Only in recent weeks have there been tentative steps to restart peace talks with the Taliban, and Afghanistan’s Western allies believe Pakistan would be crucial to any such process. The United States government also pressed hard for Mr. Ghani not to boycott the meeting.
Mr. Ghani’s government had demanded, but failed to receive, a series of guarantees from Pakistan before resuming warmer relations, a development that created pressure to skip the one-day conference. Some Afghan officials said they believed that their leader had no choice but to go, considering the strong pressure from its allies. “His attendance despite not seeing any progress from Pakistan suggests that there are pressures from the donor countries in the West and China that he has to answer to,” said Abdul Qayoum Sajjadi, a member of the foreign relations committee of the Afghan Parliament.
The exact demands are not known, but they are believed to include guarantees to remove Taliban havens in Pakistan, measures to improve the treatment of Afghan refugees, and a pledge to refuse to treat Taliban wounded in Pakistani hospitals. Pakistani officials also had demands of their own, including that Afghanistan stop allowing Pakistani Taliban fighters to use sanctuaries on its side of the border, and to stop officials’ frequent condemnation of Pakistan.
The United States government pressed hard for Mr. Ghani not to boycott the meeting. Some Afghan officials felt their leader had no choice, considering the strong pressure from its allies. The daylong meeting included sideline negotiations with the Americans and Chinese, as well as a meeting between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers — the first such encounter since 2012.
“His attendance, despite not seeing any progress from Pakistan, suggests that there are pressures from the donor countries in the West and China that he has to answer to,” said Abdul Qayoum Sajjadi, a member of the foreign relations committee of the Afghan Parliament. Afterward, a joint statement from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States called for immediate efforts to restart peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The time between now and April, when fighting usually intensifies with warming weather, was discussed as the best window of opportunity to make progress.
“All will pursue with urgency confidence-building measures that reduces the level of violence in Afghanistan, and allow for full participation and talks by all participants,” the statement said. It carried a warning that “those who refuse to join a political resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan must be opposed with all means available.”
At a news conference, the Afghan foreign minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, held out hope for the efforts on peace talks. “We very much hope that this effort will result in a result-oriented peace process where we see some policy moves in the coming weeks,” Mr. Rabbani said.
On relations between the two countries, Sartaj Aziz, who is in effect the acting Pakistani foreign minister, said, “One thing we have agreed is that this blame game must end and our two countries should cooperate with one another.”