ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri on Friday concluded a two-day trip to Kabul, the latest in a series of high level mutual visits between the two neighbours in efforts to mend their fences in recent months.

Although both Islamabad and Kabul expressed their goodwill and determination to have friendly ties and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali and Finance Minister Asraf Ghandi have visited Islamabad one after another since April, Pak-Afghan relations have become volatile and will probably remain so due to border disputes, trade issues and mutual distrust in the anti-terror campaign.

The delicate relations between the two countries have been aggravated since June 20 when Islamabad sent 2,000 troops to its northwestern Mohmand tribal area bordering Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province to co-operate with US and Afghan troops in tracking Taliban remnants and al-Qaida terrorists.

The deployment culminated in an exchange of fire between Pakistani and Afghan troops and finally triggered border disputes over the 2,500 kilometre-long Durand Line, which was delimited in 1893 and recognized both by British India and Afghan Amir Abdul Rehman.

Pak-Afghan relations further deteriorated after an angry mob ransacked the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul on July 8 to protest at the alleged incursion by Pakistani troops. To appease the Pakistanis, Afghan President Karzai made a quick apology to Islamabad for the attack and assured no such incident would happen again.

The future of settling border disputes is gloomy. Both sides are sticking to their own claims based on different maps of the Durand Line: Pakistan uses a British map while Afghanistan uses a Russian map drawn decades ago.

Furthermore, Afghan Interior Minister Jalali stressed on July 30 in Kabul that the transitional government of Karzai is not in a position to decide about the Durand Line, which the Pakistan side believes is a "closed chapter" and such a decision can be made only after the formation of a parliament by the Afghan people.

The transit trade issue is another main obstacle, which has been impeding the development of relations ever since Pakistan got independence in 1947.

Xinhua

(HK Edition 08/25/2003 page5)