ISLAMABAD (News Desk) – Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan was ready to reopen Pak-Afghan border crossing at Chaman, however, there were certain conditions such as Kabul must render an apology for burning the Pakistani flag.
In an interview with state-run PTV, Aziz said that Pakistan had offered some conditions to Afghan officials for reopening of the border gate during the flag meetings. “We are still expecting a positive response from Afghanistan,” he added.
To a question about Kabul bomb blast, Sartaj Aziz said that we have asked the Afghanistan government to share evidences with us instead of mere blames to end misconceptions between two countries.
The Advisor also called upon the international community and world bodies to press upon India to grant the right to self-determination to the Kashmiris. He said the international community should stop India from human rights violations in the held valley.
He said only international pressure can convince India to come to the dialogue table for the resolution of the issue. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will forcefully highlight the Kashmir issue during the forthcoming meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, he went on to say.
Answering a question, he said that the FATA Reforms Committee has recommended integrating FATA in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and it will be implemented after the approval of the Prime Minister and ratification from the parliament.
Sartaj Aziz, who is also chairman of the FATA Reforms Committee, said that the integration will be made after bringing FATA at par with the developed areas of the country within five years.
Sartaj Aziz said that the committee had detailed deliberations with all the stakeholders in FATA including political leadership, tribal elders, journalists, civil society and traders about reforms in FATA. He said they are in support of abolishing the Frontier Crimes Regulation and integration of FATA with KPK.
Sartaj Aziz said that before integration a number of tasks needed to be done in FATA including rehabilitation and reconstruction, socioeconomic development, Local Bodies’ elections, conversion of Levis into agency police and introduction of Tribal Areas Rawaj Act.
He said the committee has proposed investment in a 10 year FATA Development Program covering all the sectors; it will include development of urban centers in all the agencies.
The committee proposed the holding of local bodies elections in 2017 and up to 30 percent of the FATA 10-Year Development Plan will be executed through the local councils.
He said to ensure availability of adequate resources for development of FATA on a long term basis, three percent share from the divisible pool has been proposed. This will be in addition to the existing annual development allocation of 21 billion rupees a year.
The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Court shall stand extended to FATA. At the same time the Jirga system will remain prevalent in criminal and civil disputes. Furthermore, it is proposed to codify the ‘Riwaj’ in each agency.
To create security capacity 20,000 new posts of Levies for policing is proposed to be sanctioned.
The Chairman of the FATA Reforms Committee said that a Governor’s Advisory Council that includes all the parliamentarians will be established to advise the Governor in development and administrative matters, including the progress of the integration process.
