Foreign Ministry presents report in NA on ties with India, Afghanistan, Iran

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar Thursday presented a report in the National Assembly on the steps taken to strengthen Pakistan’s relations with the neighboring countries, including India, last year.

The House was told that Pakistan had been advocating constructive engagement and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues with India, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

The report was tabled in reply to a question by Nawabzada Mir Jamal Khan Raisani.

The House was told that India had been asked to take steps to create a conductive environment for advancement of peace and dialogue, as its retrogressive actions vis-à-vis the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) had vitiated the bilateral environment and impeded the prospects for peace and cooperation.

The report said notwithstanding the difficulties in bilateral relations, Pakistan continued to act in a responsible manner.

The Ceasefire Understanding of 2003, reaffirmed in February 2021, was upheld at the Line of Control in the interest of regional peace.

In October 2024, the Kartarpur Corridor Agreement was renewed for another five years. The visits of the thousands of Indian pilgrims to different shrines in Pakistan were also organized under the Bilateral Protocol of 1974.

As regards Afghanistan, the foreign ministry stated that it remained a key priority in Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach with a focus on trade, connectivity and people-to-people contacts between the two countries. “It is, however, very unfortunate that the use of Afghan side by terrorist groups, especially TTP, has become a major irritant in our bilateral relations. All our efforts to resolve this issue have so far not received a conclusive response,” the foreign ministry stated.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that efforts had been undertaken to enhance bilateral trade and transit cooperation. Currently, the level of bilateral trade between two sides is at 1.6 billion dollars (2023-2024).

In parallel, the government has appointed a new Special Representative for Afghanistan to engage the Afghan side on all issues of concerns. The special representative undertook a visit to Kabul from 24-25 December 2024. The interaction with key ministers, including deputy prime minister for political affairs, minister for foreign affairs, and minister for interior, has been helpful in highlighting expectations from both sides.

Both sides are in talks on achieving consensus on how to enhance trade and economic cooperation and resolve irritants. Pakistan is also actively engaged with key regional countries and the wider international community to address the security threats emanating from Afghanistan.

Pakistan has consistently engaged the interim Afghan authorities through high-level meetings and interactions with a view to addressing our security concerns.

The report stated that bilateral issues were discussed with the interim Afghan authorities during the visit of the Acting Afghan foreign minister to Pakistan on 5-8 May 2023; visit of acting Afghan commerce minister to Islamabad on 14 November 2023; visit of Governor Kandahar, Haji Mullah Muhammad Shirin to Islamabad on 2 January 2024; and Special Representative for Afghanistan’s visit to Kabul on 24 December 2024.

It stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan also remained engaged through the mechanism of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), which discussed border and security issues. Six meetings of the JCC have been held so far.

The report stated that the last meeting of the JCC was held in Islamabad on 03 January, 2024 and the next meeting was expected to be held soon.

As regards Iran, the report said there had been frequent interactions at the leadership/ministerial level to strengthen bilateral ties. Mechanisms exist for cooperation between the two countries including Joint Border Commission (JBC), Joint Border Trade Committee (JBTC), Joint Trade Committee (JTC), and the Special Security Committee (SSC).

“We continue to collaborate on multilateral forums including UN, OIC, ECO, and SCO. We also continue to collaborate on core issues such as Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” the Foreign Ministry stated in its report.

Both countries are focusing on strengthening trade and economic relations to reach bilateral trade target of 10 billion USD per annum. In this regard, trade-related matters such as movement of trucks at the Taftan border, barter trade, border sustenance markets and banking channels are also being addressed.