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Pakistan Prefers Weak Gov’t in Kabul, Says US Congressional Report
Pakistan prefers a weak government in Kabul and has played an active, and by many accounts, a negative role in Afghan affairs for decades, a U.S. Congressional report has said.
In its latest report on Afghanistan, the independent and bipartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) identified Pakistan, the most important neighbor of Afghanistan.
However, it said, Pakistan continuously had friendly relations with terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan such as the Taliban and the Haqqani Network.
“Pakistan’s security establishment, fearful of a strategic encirclement by India, apparently continues to view the Afghan Taliban as a relatively friendly and reliable anti-India element in Afghanistan,” the CRS said.
According to the report, Islamabad cannot tolerate India’s strong diplomatic and commercial presence in Afghanistan.
“India’s diplomatic and commercial presence in Afghanistan – and US rhetorical support for it – exacerbates Pakistani fears of encirclement. India interest in Afghanistan stems largely from India’s broader regional rivalry with Pakistan, which impedes Indian efforts to establish stronger and more direct commercial and political relations with central Asia,” the CRS latest report on Afghanistan further said.
“Pakistan’s security services maintain ties to Afghan insurgent groups, most notably the Haqqani Network, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) that has become an official, semiautonomous component of the Taliban,” the Congress’s think thank that periodically prepares reports on issues of importance for Congressmen for them to make informed decisions, said.
Nasrullah Stanekzai, a lecturer in Kabul University, told Ariana News that the release of this report by U.S. Congress is a positive point, but Kabul government has a weak diplomacy compared with the Islamabad when it comes to the their relation with the Washington.
Commenting on the report, Rahmatullah Baizhanpoor, a Kabul-based Afghan political analyst said, the U.S. will not prevent Pakistan from its negative role in Afghanistan.
This report is released at a time, as diplomatic and military tensions are high between the two neighboring countries. The relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been tense and marred by mistrust.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
Ten people have been killed and six others injured by floods in Helmand province in the past week, local officials said on Friday.
According to officials, seven of those were members of the same family, and they were killed in Kajaki district last night.
“Most of the people moved from vulnerable areas to high lands and mountains, and thanks Allah the number of casualties is low,” Sher Mohammad Vahdat, the head of information of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Helmand, said adding rescue teams and security forces have been dispatched to help people.
It is said that the telecommunication system has also been disrupted due to the effect of floods in Kajaki district. Floods have also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Afghanistan, it was announced on Thursday.
During the meeting, Otunbayeva thanked India for “its critical humanitarian support and longstanding friendship for the Afghan people” and discussed the importance of regional and international cooperation to address prevailing challenges in Afghanistan, UNAMA said on X.
Jaishankar also said on X that the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan.
“Underlined that India has provided wheat, medicines, pesticides and school supplies. Appreciate the role of UN agencies as partners in these endeavors,” he said.
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