Trilateral talks

In a positive development, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have come together to enhance cooperation by holding regular meetings on regional issues. This came about after President Asif Ali Zardari, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmedinejad agreed for increased cooperation in various areas, including the war on terror at a meeting on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) summit in Tehran. The agenda, date, and venue of the first foreign minister-level trilateral meeting every month will be announced later. The three leaders have also agreed to hold meetings of the three heads of states every three months. The significance of the meeting can be gauged by the fact that the three leaders placed the war on terror, border issues and trade and economic cooperation at the top of the priority list. According to reports, Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project also came under discussion, and that the Iranian deputy foreign minister has been given the task of working on a new formula for the project. This is very important in view of the energy needs of the entire region. Pakistan's energy needs are reported to rise by 10-12 percent annually. Energy is required to maintain the economic growth rate. Last year Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to share the amount to lay transmission lines for electricity to be imported from Central Asian Republics. Pakistan was to invest some $ 600 million while the remaining amount had to be paid by Afghanistan.




The issue of militancy is also central to the relation of the three states, especially after the start of the war on terror. It should be remembered that in February, 2007 Iran had summoned the Pakistani ambassador to Tehran over the bombings in Zahedan in south-east Iran. Jundullah had claimed responsibility for these bombings and a few other acts of violence in Iran. The Iranian press at that time even criticised Pakistan for becoming the backyard for terrorists infiltrating Iranian soil. The same year, Iran started building a 700-km concrete wall along with its border with Pakistan - from Taftan to Mand - to stop illegal border crossings. Our relations with Afghanistan have also been uneasy for quite some time. Some hope had emerged following the talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the then President Pervez Musharraf in 2007, in which both agreed to share intelligence on militant groups and speed up efforts to deny sanctuary, training and financing to them in both countries. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani met on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Colombo last year and agreed to re-engage on all bilateral and multilateral forums. Since then the two countries have tried to maintain good relations. They should realise that Taliban are a common threat to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Despite Karzai himself being a Pashtun, his partiality towards the Northern Alliance created a deep mistrust between the Pashtuns and the Karzai regime. The Taliban took advantage of this trust deficit. Stability and peace in Afghanistan is in both Pakistan and Iran's interest and unless the Taliban are defeated or neutralised through a comprehensive approach, the whole region will remain unsafe. There are suspicions that the peace deals that Pakistan signed in Waziristan and Swat, etc may not produce what we bargained for. These peace deals came in response to the failure of military operations and should be seen as part of a multi-pronged approach to deal with terrorism. It is indeed in the three countries' interest to not allow any misunderstandings scuttle their traditional ties.