Rabbani’s visit to Pakistan delayed again

KABUL has been postponed once again in the wake of cross-border incursions into eastern Afghanistan and the lack of a clear agenda, an official said on Sunday.

Rabbani’s earlier scheduled trip to Pakistan was delayed for two weeks following tensions over cross-border shelling that Afghanistan blames on Pakistan Army.

In June, President Hamid Karzai told participants of the Heart of Asia conference in Kabul that cooperation among regional countries and allies would bring stability to Afghanistan and the region as he opened the summit.

He informed participants that the High Peace Council chairman would be traveling to neighbouring Pakistan soon to muster Islamabad’s support for a negotiated end to the Afghan conflict. He especially asked Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to support the Afghan-led peace process.

“Working together will promote peace and economic progress in Afghanistan and the region and also offer much needed relief from terrorism, radicalism and violence,” Karzai said.

High peace council’s secretary Aminudin Muzafari told Pajhwok Afghan News that Rabbani’s Pakistan trip was delayed for a second time because Pakistani missile attacks into Afghanistan’s border continued. He also lacked a specific agenda for his visit, Muzafari said. “It is not clear when the high peace council chairman will be visiting Pakistan,” he said. 

Cross-border attacks continue to take place with intervals in Afghanistan’s border areas over the past 18 months. A number of people have been killed and wounded in the incursions that displaced 1500 families in Kunar. 

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