With a conclusion to the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) on the horizon after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made an unexpected trip to the Afghan capital to hash out issues delaying its signing, some across the border in Pakistan have expressed worries about the possible implications of the accord.
"Afghanistan wants America to react against Taliban and terrorists from Pakistan in Afghanistan, which means they [Afghanistan] want America to launch attacks in Pakistan, and that is concerning," Mahmood Shah, a retired Pakistani army officer, told TOLOnews.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have long been on edge over the issue of insurgents in Afghanistan receiving training and resource support from groups in Pakistan. Many in Afghanistan, as well as in the West, have accused elements within the Pakistani government of providing support for these groups.
The BSA intends to lay out the purpose and logistics of the U.S.' role in Afghanistan's national security once the NATO combat mission ends in December of 2014 and the majority of foreign troops withdraw. The prospect of continued U.S. military action in the region, particularly if it is tied to Afghan policymakers, worries some Pakistani experts who think the activity of insurgents and terror networks moving back and forth over the fluid border dividing the two countries could bring further conflict with the West to their doorstep.
"Those who come from outside, if they are terrorists, Taliban, Al Qaeda from Pakistan, the Afghan government wants the U.S. to guarantee it will defend and support Afghanistan against them, and Afghanistan wants this point added to the agreement," Rahimullah Yousofzai, a Pakistani political analyst told TOLOnews. "America has not accepted that point but still it is of concern for Pakistan."
Part of the negotiations between the U.S. and Afghanistan over the security pact was the issue of defining what would be dubbed an act of "aggression" against Afghanistan, warranting U.S. intervention. Based on recent comments from Afghan officials, it would seem they are as concerned about state-born threats as they are those from non-state actors like the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Previously, President Hamid Karzai pointed to the Pakistani military's shelling of eastern parts of Afghanistan just over the Durand Line and said that the U.S. also must regard such actions as examples of "aggression." Although Kerry and Karzai told the press on Saturday night that they had put to rest the debate over what constituted an act of "aggression" against Afghanistan, they did not offer any details as to what definition they had settled on.
The nuts and bolts of that part of the BSA, as well as other parts, are not likely to be made public until the agreement is either signed or rejected. What is agreed on by Kabul and Washington negotiators must first be approved by the Afghan National Security Council (NSC), Parliament and now the Loya Jirga Karzai has decided to convene within a month before the deal is sealed.
Although Pakistani experts outside of formal office have expressed anxieties about the BSA, the line out of Islamabad has not been one of major concern.
"This issue is not the purview of Pakistan, this is an issue between Afghanistan and the United States of America and we don't know about the details," said Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the spokesperson of the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry. "But whatever is decided must be clear and must be for the peace, stability and development of Afghanistan."
The first signals of possible final steps being completed on the BSA came on Saturday night after 28 hours of negotiations between Karzai and Kerry in Kabul. The two men held a press conference late Saturday night to announce that they had reached an accord on a number of the most contentious issues that were delaying the signing of the BSA. Kerry also decided to stay on another night in order to finish up their talks.
During the press conference, President Karzai said that they had agreed on the issues of civilian casualty prevention, the definition of "aggression" in its relation to Afghan national security and U.S. unilateral operations. He said that U.S. forces in Afghanistan post-2014 would not be permitted to carry out such operations, according to the BSA.
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