PAKISTAN LOOKS TO INCREASE ITS DEFENCE FOOTPRINT IN AFGHANISTAN
(Visit of Afghan Defence Minister to Pakistan)
by
Monish Gulati
Monish Gulati
Introduction
Afghan
Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi, on 27 January 2013, led a
six-member delegation on a five-day official tour to Pakistan for talks
on defense cooperation and border coordination. Pakistani Chief of Army
Staff, General Kayani during his visit to Kabul in November last year
had extended an invitation to the Afghan Defence Minister to visit
Pakistan. This visit also came against the backdrop of the trilateral
summit on Afghanistan in London.[1]
The two-day event (3-4 February) was held to inject fresh momentum in
the ‘negotiated settlement’ on Afghanistan with the active and direct
involvement of Pakistan.
Apart
from General Muhammadi, the other members of the Afghan delegation
were; Major General Afzal Aman, Director General Military Operations
Abdul Manan Farahi, Director General Military Intelligence and
Investigation Payanda Mohammad Nazim, Inspector General Training
Ministry of Defence Aminullah Karim, Commandant National Defence College
and US Colonel Dan Pinnel.[2]
Agenda
The
two sides discussed the ‘Peace Process Roadmap to 2015’ charted by the
Afghan High Peace Council and provided to Pakistan in November 2012. An
end to the cross-border attacks and other border management issues were
discussed as these have been a source of heightened tensions between
the two countries. Afghanistan had earlier raised the matter of
cross-border attacks with the UN Security Council in September 2012.[3]Defense
officials also discussed the proposed Strategic Partnership Agreement
(SPA) between the two countries which had hit a roadblock on account of
cross border attacks, the Durrand line and safe havens for the Taliban
on Pakistani soil. Pakistan had handed over a draft of the SPA to Afghan
Foreign Minister when he visited Islamabad in Nov 2012.[4] Also on the agenda was the training of Afghan security
personnel in Pakistan.
Visit
The
first official engagement of the Afghan delegation was a visit to the
Pakistani Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi on 28 January 2013 where they
laid a wreath at "Yadgar-e-Shuhada" or martyrs memorial.[5]
A meeting between General Kayani and Afghan Defence Minister was also
scheduled. The delegation during its stay besides visiting various
raining institutions also
met Pakistani Defence Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, and Secretary Defence
Lieutenant General (retd) Asif Yasin Malik. [6]
The Afghan Defence Minister also called on the Pakistani President and
discussed defence cooperation and counter terrorism issues. President
Zardari said Pakistan attached great importance to its ties with
Afghanistan and added that the delegation’s visit would help further
cement relations.[7] The delegation left for Kabul on 31 January 2013.
Border Management
Implementation
of recently concluded agreement on Tripartite Border Standing Operating
Procedures was also discussed by the Afghan delegation. The agreement
was directed at improving existing security cooperation and intelligence
sharing mechanisms, on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. The 36th
meeting of the Tripartite Commission had been held in November 2012 in
Kabul where a Tripartite Border Coordination Mechanism for enhanced
border coordination and cooperation had been worked out. ISAF is the
third stakeholder in the commission. Pakistan and Afghanistan on 31
January 2013 agreed to work out a ‘joint security plan’ to ensure peace
on the border following the withdrawal of US-led foreign troops from the
war-torn country in 2014. Under the plan, the border security
arrangements would be
gradually taken over by Pakistani and Afghan security forces and the
role of the US-led NATO forces would be reduced. [8]
Training of Security Forces
The
Afghan delegation on 29 January 2013 visited military training
institutes in Quetta; the Command and Staff College and School of
Infantry & Tactics (SIAT). The delegation was reportedly briefed
about the academic courses being conducted at these institutions. The
training programme proposed by Pakistan for Afghan army officers also
includes professional training at National Defence University (NDU)
Islamabad. The delegation was handed over a ‘selection list’ containing
details of the training programmes being offered at various Pakistani
security training institutes.
Afghan
delegation was taken to the main campus of the National University of
Sciences and Technology (NUST) School of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science, on 30 January 2013. NUST made an offer of 20 fully
funded PhD scholarships for Afghan students in any discipline.[9] Tour included a visit to the National University of Modern Language (NUML), Pakistan
Ordnance Factory Wah and Special Operational School (SOS) Cherat.[10]
The
delegates witnessed a military exercise at Tilla Range near Jehlum and
appreciated the high standard of training displayed by participating
troops. It was highlighted that the operational environment of Pakistan
and Afghanistan were identical; hence, Pakistan could ideally serve a
‘natural’ professional training destination for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). [11]
The delegation reportedly indicated that the female segment of the ANSF
was reluctant to travel outside Afghanistan for training, however, a
“brotherly Muslim country could serve as a place of interest for them
too”. [12]
As
per reported understanding reached between the two sides, the officers
from Afghan National Army (ANA) would be visiting Pakistan initially for
mid-career courses (MCCs). The training programme would see enrolments
of the Afghan officers in Pakistan’s military training institutes in
three phases. In the first phase, the mid-career Afghan army officers
would train at Islamabad and Quetta. In the second phase, the Afghan
recruits would receive training at Pakistan Military Academy (PMA)
Abbotbbad and Military College Jehlum. “The third and final phase
foresees training of Afghan police. The officials said that the plan for
training Afghan National Police at the National Police Academy,
Islamabad and Police Training College Sihala, Rawalpindi was under
consideration.
There
is also a proposal to train Afghan non-commissioned officers (NCOs);
but has not been finalised. In this regard the Afghan delegates are
reported to have visited the PMA Kakul, Junior Leadership Academy (JLA)
Shinkiari, Mansehra and Military College Jehlum on 31 January 2013. The
JLA Shinkiari is a military academy for NCOs and Junior Commissioned
Officers (JCOs). Pakistan estimates some 200 Afghan soldiers in the next
two years to undergo military training in Pakistan. “There would be
six-month, yearly and two-year training programmes depending upon the
rank of the officers. Afghan authorities are expected get back to
Pakistan in course of future meetings with their exact training
requirements. [13]
Analysis
Pakistan
has been offering Afghanistan to train its security forces for quite
some time, however, Kabul had shown little interest, largely due to the
trust deficit between the two countries.[14]
In fact after the sixth Trilateral Summit meeting
(Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey) in Istanbul on 1 November 2011, Pakistan
foreign office had declared that Afghanistan had
agreed to let Pakistan train its security forces. It was indicated by
Pakistan that the joint statement of the 6th Trilateral Summit,
particularly paragraph six, welcomes the signing of the protocol on
conduct of mutual exercises and on training cooperation. The documents
adopted were two separate protocols: one for training of police
personnel i.e. counter-terrorism/law enforcement and the other for the
training of the military personnel.[15] Afghanistan did not take on the offer as it was said that the proposal
was not generous enough in terms of the stipends and other facilities that the Afghan trainees would receive. [16]
Pakistan
believes that the NATO-led training mission in Afghanistan has been
beset with ‘serious problems’ due to insider attacks as well as the
reluctance of Western alliance member states to send their military
instructors to Afghanistan. [17]
Some observers feel that in the future as NATO forces drawdown, there
may well be a formal agreement on the deputation
of Pakistani officers to Afghan training institutes including
assistance in setting up new ones. Also about 4,500 US special
operations personnel presently charged with training the Afghan Local
Police (ALP), a force of 18,500 villagers armed, paid and trained to
defend their communities against insurgents and have been
deployed in 94 districts. The US special operations personnel maybe
withdrawn on President Karzai request, made during his visit to US in
January this year. ALP was intended to expand to 26,000 members by the
end of 2014, with units dedicated to securing remote locations where
traditional Afghan forces are weak or nonexistent.[18]
Pakistan has never been in favour of the training imparted to the ANSF by the Indian military.[19]India
had planned to train 20,000-30,000 ANA personnel, including about 500
officers, at facilities around the country over the next three years
under a bilateral strategic partnership agreed during President Hamid
Karzai's visit to New Delhi in October 2011.[20]
The
outcome of the visit of the Afghan defence delegation was being
considered vital in connection with the London Trilateral Summit. [21]
This may have been due to the fact that amicable resolution of the
border management issues, especially cessation of cross-attacks, is a
part of the peace roadmap and an Afghan condition to signing of the SPA.
It is also likely
that Pakistan may have been insisting on Afghanistan accepting its
offer to train ANSF as a part of the SPA.
Conclusion
The
extent to which Pakistan media has ‘read’ into the outcome of visit of
the Afghan defence delegation is indicated by this comment; “General
Bismillah is a non-Pashtun, a Tajik, by origin. This vindicates the
fact that Pakistan is moving ahead with the vision of a broad-based
relationship with Afghanistan.”[22] Pakistani
establishment has really been upbeat about the outcome of the visit and
the Pakistani role in it. With regards to the peace process one analyst
commented “the most important point was the reiteration by Gen
Bismillah of Afghan gratitude for the Pakistani release of Afghan
Taliban prisoners to facilitate reconciliation.”[23]
A Pakistani spokesperson summed up the mood “It appears that
Afghanistan has come to realize the centrality of Pakistan in peace and
stability in Afghanistan".
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