Afghan President Out to Ease Relations on Visit to Pakistan

By SALMAN MASOOD

Hoping to recast an often strained relationship with a crucial neighbor, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan made his first state visit to Pakistan on Friday.

His two-day visit is to include a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday, followed by a joint news conference, and he plans to attend a Pakistani-Afghan cricket match.

On Friday, Mr. Ghani held talks with top officials of the Pakistani foreign office and finance ministry in Islamabad, the capital. But his most important meeting was with Gen. Raheel Sharif, the army chief, at the General Headquarters in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The Pakistani military said in a statement that Mr. Ghani received a briefing there on the situation along the two countries’ common border, which runs through mountainous tribal areas where militant groups are active. The statement said Mr. Ghani sought stronger security ties, including cooperation in training and border management, and promised his country’s cooperation “to jointly curb the menace of terrorism.”

Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a Pakistani senator and the head of a research group called the Pakistan-China Institute, said Mr. Ghani’s visit was “a great opportunity for both sides for a reset in our relations.”

“After 35 years of internecine warfare in Afghanistan, there is a real potential for a new opening, with all sides having learned from past mistakes,” Mr. Sayed said in an interview. “The political will exists in Kabul and Islamabad to open a new chapter in ties, as peace in Pakistan means peace in Afghanistan.”

Though the trip is Mr. Ghani’s first to Pakistan since he assumed office in September, a number of top Pakistani security officials, including General Sharif, have visited Kabul recently for talks with Afghan leaders.

Relations have long been strained over the presence of Taliban militants on both sides of the border. Afghan officials have accused the Pakistani military of aiding and directing the Taliban insurgency against the Afghan government and Western troops. And increasingly, Pakistani officials have accused Afghanistan of taking revenge by sheltering a growing number of Pakistani Taliban militants.

Yet Pakistani officials have sounded upbeat about Mr. Ghani’s ability to reforge ties between the two countries, which sometimes became confrontational during the tenure of Mr. Ghani’s predecessor, Hamid Karzai.

A Pakistani military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Mr. Ghani “seems to be a changed man who can reset ties with Pakistan.” However, the official noted that the situation in Afghanistan remained “fragile because of the new office of chief executive and power-sharing problems.”

That was a reference to Mr. Ghani’s erstwhile election rival and now partner in power, Abdullah Abdullah. Although Mr. Ghani and Mr. Abdullah swore to put aside their differences and entered into an American-brokered unity government, there are lasting questions about the division of power and influence.

Amid concerns about regional stability as the United States and NATO formally end their combat mission in Afghanistan, Chinese officials have sought a greater role in the region. Mr. Ghani recently visited Beijing.

“China is keen to play a proactive, positive role since it, too, like Pakistan, wishes to prevent a vacuum, similar to the one in 1989, when after the Red Army exit from Afghanistan there was a civil war and constant conflict,” Mr. Sayed said, referring to the end of the Soviet occupation.