Monday, May 28, 2018
Kabul (BNA) Afghanistan on Saturday objected to the Pakistan’s decision of KP-FATA merger, saying “the decision was against the 1921 agreement between the then British India and Afghanistan”.
Comments by the Afghan Presidential Palace came two days after both houses of the Pakistani parliament approved the merger with two-third majority.
“Pakistan’s decision is against the 1921 agreement between the British India and Afghanistan,” President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s office said in a statement, which was posted online.
The statement said Pakistani parliament had taken the decision of the merger at a time when the “military was governing” the areas.
“Every decision about the tribal regions should be made in normal situation and in accordance with the consensus of the tribal people,” it said.
“The Afghan government believes that one-sided decision under the pretext to end the British-era laws and inhuman system is not solution to the problems,” the statement added.
“We have always shared our concerns through diplomatic channels with Pakistan and international community about Pakistan’s military intervention across the Durand Line, especially in the tribal regions,” President Ghani’s office further said.
Also, the President’s Office announced that Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar travelled to Pakistan on Sunday to meet senior civil and military leaders. According to the statement, Atmar will visit Pakistan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbsi. The delegation will hold talks regarding the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region.
This will be the first high level visit after Pakistan and Afghanistan greed on a comprehensive bilateral mechanism for dialogue on key areas.
Both sides have operationalized five working groups under the Afghanistan Pakistan Acting Plan for Solidarity (APAPPS) and efforts are underway to implement its seven key principles that also include their commitments to take action against fugitive and irreconcilable elements.
