Pakistan to raise border crossing issue in Washington meeting

[ajpirzada]

Friday, May 01, 2009
By Qudssia Akhlaque

ISLAMABAD: Two key Afghanistan-related issues that Pakistan is likely to raise during the trilateral negotiations in Washington next week will focus on border crossings, according to sources.

With the endless ‘do more’ mantra from Washington on blocking militants’ cross-border movement, Islamabad plans to formally raise two specific issues — the question of more posts along the Afghan side of the Durand Line and the issue of tighter border controls through fencing, mining or biometric crossings.

Pakistan has consistently argued with Kabul and Washington that greater number of border posts are required to check illegal and militants’ border crossings from either side. This issue has been raised at all levels by Pakistan’s civilian leadership and its civil and military bureaucracy.

This issue has been taken up in recent meetings with the top US general, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and a number of leading American senators, including John Kerry.

Pakistan’s contention has been that while it has set up 821 military posts on its side of the Durand Line, the Afghan government has only 120 posts. This issue has also been raised by Pakistan during various Tripartite Border Commission meetings.

The other issue that Pakistan intends to raise in Washington is also related to tighter border controls. Pakistan has consistently been advocating border controls through fencing, selective mining or biometric system. The Afghan government, supported by the US, has strongly opposed using any of the three means to enforce tighter border controls. Pakistan even went ahead with almost 30 kilometres of fencing under the Musharraf regime but it was subsequently stopped after a strong protest from the Afghan government.

Similarly, work on the biometric system was also started and then rendered ineffective when the Afghan government refused to use the biometric border crossing system.

This position, adopted by the Afghan government and supported by most of the others involved in the Afghan issue, is becoming difficult for Pakistan to accept. Hence, according to Pakistani officials, Islamabad has no choice but to raise again these two issues i.e. greater number of border posts and ways of tightening border controls in the forthcoming tripartite Washington meeting.
Pakistan to raise border crossing issue in Washington meeting

 

[Bill Longley]

Friday, May 01, 2009
By Qudssia Akhlaque

ISLAMABAD: Two key Afghanistan-related issues that Pakistan is likely to raise during the trilateral negotiations in Washington next week will focus on border crossings, according to sources.

With the endless ‘do more’ mantra from Washington on blocking militants’ cross-border movement, Islamabad plans to formally raise two specific issues — the question of more posts along the Afghan side of the Durand Line and the issue of tighter border controls through fencing, mining or biometric crossings.

Pakistan has consistently argued with Kabul and Washington that greater number of border posts are required to check illegal and militants’ border crossings from either side. This issue has been raised at all levels by Pakistan’s civilian leadership and its civil and military bureaucracy.

This issue has been taken up in recent meetings with the top US general, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and a number of leading American senators, including John Kerry.

Pakistan’s contention has been that while it has set up 821 military posts on its side of the Durand Line, the Afghan government has only 120 posts. This issue has also been raised by Pakistan during various Tripartite Border Commission meetings.

The other issue that Pakistan intends to raise in Washington is also related to tighter border controls. Pakistan has consistently been advocating border controls through fencing, selective mining or biometric system. The Afghan government, supported by the US, has strongly opposed using any of the three means to enforce tighter border controls. Pakistan even went ahead with almost 30 kilometres of fencing under the Musharraf regime but it was subsequently stopped after a strong protest from the Afghan government.

Similarly, work on the biometric system was also started and then rendered ineffective when the Afghan government refused to use the biometric border crossing system.

This position, adopted by the Afghan government and supported by most of the others involved in the Afghan issue, is becoming difficult for Pakistan to accept. Hence, according to Pakistani officials, Islamabad has no choice but to raise again these two issues i.e. greater number of border posts and ways of tightening border controls in the forthcoming tripartite Washington meeting.
Pakistan to raise border crossing issue in Washington meeting

پانی پانی کر گئی مجھے قلندر کی یہ بات
تو جھکا جو غیر کے آگے تو نہ تن تیرا نہ من

 

[BaburCM]

Finally some sense prevailing! Not just raise the issue, but also go ahead with the plan regardless of what others think. We require some extreme measures at this critical juncture. For far too long has Pakistan tolerated and accepted one-sided demands. Never have we considered protecting our own interests. The illegal border crossing from the other side is a massive source of instability for Pakistan and the Yanks are turning a blind eye. The Yanks aren't sincere in solving the problems. The Yanks are only here to worsen the security situation and seize the nukes. If the Yanks or their lapdogs aren't willing to adhere we should ignore their pleas and instead opt for Chinese assistance in this regard. In the meanwhile, reject any form of aids that amounts to peanuts. We need to fence, mine and control the inflow and outflow of people. Additionally, we also require UCAVs for patrolling the massive border with Khakistan. Add some SAM batteries and we got it all pretty much covered. If the porous border with Khakistan isn't contained it will be the downfall of Pakistan. Mark my words.

 

[Zob]

what is KHAKISTAN???/

 

[BaburCM]

what is KHAKISTAN???/

The new name for Afghanistan.

 

[fatman17]

pakistan's pleadings will fall on deaf ears - better get ready to hear DO MORE, DO MORE!!!
such is our plight!

 

[PeacefulIndian]

The new name for Afghanistan.

What does it mean?

 

[khanz]

For the love of god i hope pakistan will finally mine and fence the entire border last time we stopped coz karzai starting barking about tribes being split well i'm sorry but tough it's an international border and should be treated as such this time if karzai start barking again we need to tell him to go eff himself.Security if pakistan should come before karzai's feelings esp when he's so anti-pakistan.Afterall the crap thats happened i think pakistan is finally starting to get assertive and put itself first.

 

[fatman17]

For the love of god i hope pakistan will finally mine and fence the entire border last time we stopped coz karzai starting barking about tribes being split well i'm sorry but tough it's an international border and should be treated as such this time if karzai start barking again we need to tell him to go eff himself.Security if pakistan should come before karzai's feelings esp when he's so anti-pakistan.Afterall the crap thats happened i think pakistan is finally starting to get assertive and put itself first.

u make good sense but our problem is where is the money going to come from. there are a lot of good plans gathering dust with the GoP because they cannot earmark funds for them because the non-developmental expenses of the govt/bureaucracy are very high (25%) to just run the hundreds of ministeries created by the govt. to appease their coalition partners!. we have a federal minister and a state minister for the same portfolio! we have a presidential advisor and a PM advisor! I've given up counting how many judges we have on our supreme court - 27 and counting!. the US has 7 or 9 if i am not wrong!

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi Fatman,

But in the u s, not everyone can go and knock the door of the supreme court like in pakistan. The u s supreme court picks and choses the cases it want to hear.

And most of the time the cases are such that would set the precedent. Otherwise the high courts run the business of the courts and they are not as easily accessible either.

Even the high courts don't challenge the decision of the lower courts. That is the standard of the justice system here in the u s. Unless there is a proven irregularity in the case by the presiding judge's ruling---higher court will not overrule the ruling at all.

Even in case of death sentences---there has to be a reason a cause shown for the higher court to take up the case.

We need to understand how the system works over here---for every kind of crime---the judge is given a guideline of what the punishment is going to be. There are crimes at the state level and then there are crimes at the federal level. For every criminal action---the booklet will tell the judge---who in turn will let the offender know what he / she is facing.

For smiliar crimes---there are dis-similiar length of punishments at the state level in different states---eg a crime committed in the state of florida may have different punishment than that of california. But througout that state the same crime will have the similiar length of punishment.

Even the laws about presenting evidence are different in different states.

 

[Zob]

For the love of god i hope pakistan will finally mine and fence the entire border last time we stopped coz karzai starting barking about tribes being split well i'm sorry but tough it's an international border and should be treated as such this time if karzai start barking again we need to tell him to go eff himself.Security if pakistan should come before karzai's feelings esp when he's so anti-pakistan.Afterall the crap thats happened i think pakistan is finally starting to get assertive and put itself first.

The core issue is PAKISTAN lacks a lobby....ISRAEL was always succesful in lobbying its case in the west and now even the INDIANs have adopted the art of LOBBYING....the problem with us is that we never stand up to defend stuff said aganst us....we as a nation are impulsive and not patient enough to consistently keep up the pressure....we say something assertive and then don't follow it up

 

[Ratus Ratus]

True Pakistan does not appear to have a specific Pakistan lobby group(s) but that might be because you have not been thinking correctly or at all.
There are many Think Tanks about that are dealing with the US-Pakistan issues and none seem to have any Pakistan members. Also it would seem that the Pakistan government does not use the public output from them in argument for specific issues.
This is a waste and in many ways an insult to the Think Tanks and the GoP itself.

Here are 3 examples from different Think Tanks about the border issue alone.
Note they are all recent.
What has the GoP done about this and the conclusions drawn.

NOTHING!


examples:

1. THE NEXT CHAPTER THE UNITED STATES AND PAKISTAN

A Report of the Pakistan Policy Working Group SEPTEMBER 2008

Recommendation
• Facilitate a framework that would address both sides’ grievances and suspicions concerning the legitimacy of the Durand Line, with the understanding that final resolution of this issue may be a long-term prospect


2. FATA – A Most Dangerous Place
Shuja Nawaz
Center of Strategic & International Studies
January 2009

Recommendation
Help arbitrate recognition of the Druid Line as an international border and thus help eliminate a long standing problem between Afghanistan and Pakistan.


3. Back From the Brink?
A Strategy for Stabilizing Afghanistan-Pakistan
April 2009
Asia Society
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Recommendation
5. Explore with Kabul how the Afghan government can finally recognize the Durand Line as an open international border, perhaps through a process that first makes it the center of a zone of economic cooperation

Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke was involved with the above group.


Note also I have pointed these out in earlier posts.
Response: SFAll

"You can take a horse to water but you can not make it drink", seems to fit here very well.

 

[BaburCM]

What does it mean?

It means wonderland.

 

[BaburCM]

For the love of god i hope pakistan will finally mine and fence the entire border last time we stopped coz karzai starting barking about tribes being split well i'm sorry but tough it's an international border and should be treated as such this time if karzai start barking again we need to tell him to go eff himself.Security if pakistan should come before karzai's feelings esp when he's so anti-pakistan.Afterall the crap thats happened i think pakistan is finally starting to get assertive and put itself first.

Just spot on. We've had enough of the cheap talk. Screw the fake Durand Line and other so-called sensitivities. It's time for some concrete action. What we need is barb wire, thick long walls, check posts and mines. Pakistan has suffered enough. It's time to take matters in own hand. We either secure our part of the border or keep on suffering.

 

[IceCold]

Sir fatman is right Pakistan's plea will fall on deaf ears, it will be better if instead of asking we tell them, we are mining the border with or without you. Afghanistan doesn't even needs to know. As for the funds, i'll suggest if Zardari sb cut his travel expenses, i am well sure of we can make sufficient funds available for mining and fencing our borders. Army too needs to take a stand and push GOP for the same.