Kabul/Islamabad: The head of Britain’s armed forces, General Sir Nick Carter, has been working to reset ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a senior Afghan official said on Monday, as part of an initiative that reportedly dates back more than a year, and has seen the general shuttling between Kabul and Islamabad and organizing a meeting between key Afghan and Pakistan officials.
Carter and top Pakistani officials, including army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and spy chief Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, traveled to Kabul in May for talks with President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan government leaders, the Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday.
The newspaper called it “a behind-the-scenes effort to stop Afghanistan sliding into full-blown civil war, and help bolster stalling US-brokered peace talks in Qatar.”
A senior Afghan official told the newspaper the aim of Carter’s meetings was to see if Pakistan could be persuaded to use its leverage with the Taliban to push the group back toward the negotiating table.
“Army chief Carter had come for the very purpose [mending ties between Kabul and Islamabad],” Dawa Khan Menapal, head of the Afghan government’s media center, told Arab News. “Let us see what will happen, but the demand of Afghanistan’s government is clear that as long as terrorists are supported there [Pakistan] … and Pakistan does not practically and honestly take measures [against terrorism], such efforts will not reach a conclusion,” he added.
At a press briefing on Monday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and National Security Adviser Dr. Moeed Yusuf declined to comment on Carter’s visit.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied it harbors the Afghan Taliban or that the group operates out of Pakistan’s border areas.
Islamabad was one of three countries to recognize the Taliban government until it was ousted from power in a US-led invasion in 2001 for protecting Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Afghanistan says top British general working to reset Kabul-Islamabad ties
https://arab.news/9w2yr
Afghanistan says top British general working to reset Kabul-Islamabad ties
- Carter and Pakistan’s army and spy chiefs reportedly traveled to Kabul in May for talks with President Ghani
- Pakistani foreign minister, national security adviser decline to comment on the visit
Pakistan finance chief calls for stronger emerging market voice during Saudi conference
- Aurangzeb tells Saudi state media developing economies must assume larger global role
- Minister says AlUla conference can strengthen coordination among emerging economies
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday called for developing economies to play a greater role in shaping global economic governance in an interview on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies in Saudi Arabia.
The conference, hosted by the Kingdom’s Finance Ministry, brings together top government functionaries, central bank governors and policymakers from emerging markets to discuss debt sustainability, macroeconomic coordination and structural reforms amid global economic uncertainty.
In a conversation with the Saudi Press Agency, Aurangzeb described the conference as a timely platform for dialogue at a moment of heightened geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation and rapid technological change, including advances in artificial intelligence.
“It is not merely about discussions but about translating deliberations into concrete policy actions and execution over the course of the year,” he said, according to a statement circulated by the Finance Division in Islamabad.
The minister said emerging markets’ growing share of global output and growth should be matched by greater influence in international decision-making.
He noted these economies must strengthen collective dialogue and coordinated policy responses to address shared challenges, adding that the global landscape had evolved significantly since the inaugural edition of the conference.
Aurangzeb expressed confidence that the outcomes of the AlUla Conference would contribute to strengthening coordination among emerging economies and reinforcing their collective voice in shaping a more inclusive and resilient global economic order, the statement added.
