ISLAMABAD - The foreign ministry has proposed setting up of a new force for manning the porous Pak-Afghan border to check illegal crossing of people and goods, and introduction of visa system for Afghan travellers.
The country, which has been facing the problem of terrorism for long, is already fencing the border and adopting other measures to check militant infiltration.
The draft, submitted to the interior ministry, has been prepared with input from Adviser to PM on National Security and Foreign Affairs Lt-Gen (r) Nasser Khan Janjua – who in fact is the main architect of the proposal, according to ministry sources.
The Western Border Security Force (WBSF) could be created by integrating and strengthening the existing forces, reads the document, a copy of which is available with The Nation.
New recruitments for WBSF should predominantly be made from the border areas, with establishment of a permanent officer’s corps to ensure career-long commitment and specialisation, it says.
The new rules on easement rights of ‘Rahdari’ system for the people living in selected border areas be devised, preferably by using biometric technology.
Visa and biometric identification
It says that Afghanistan citizens should (be allowed) travel to Pakistan only on the visa. The set of proposals also suggest introduction of biometric controls on the Pakistani side of the border.
“Initially, the biometric controls could be introduced on three most frequented crossings — Torkham, Chaman and Qila Ghulam Khan. These systems could be installed a few kilometres inside our territory, away from the reach of Afghan saboteurs,” it says.
The government has been further proposed to install scanners to check the transit and trade vehicles crossing the border in either direction.
The recommendations also include a proposal to increase the number of formal border crossings gradually to 10 from the current three crossings.
It also talked about discouraging traversing of the border through informal crossings and asked the government to convert any essential informal crossing into a formal one if a certain number of people cross it on a daily basis.
Adoption of concrete steps by all stakeholders to eliminate the menace of systematic corruption on border crossings has also been suggested.
As far as cellular services in the border areas are concerned, the government has been advised to block signals of all Afghans cellular companies in the border areas to prevent the possibility of its misuse.
According to sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government has been proposed that an inter-ministerial meeting may be called to identify the specific measures and actions that would have to be taken by different agencies in order to implement the decisions.
In the meanwhile, arrangements are being made for discussing the issue of border management with Afghanistan at the level of interior secretaries, the source said.
Security on the Pak-Afghan border continues to be a key irritant in Islamabad-Kabul ties. The management of Pak-Afghan border is one of the most contentious bilateral issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Relations between the two neighbouring countries have frequently been hit by clashes along the Pak-Afghan border which, in the past, has led to fatalities on both sides.
In June 2016, Pakistan informed Afghan authorities about the installation of new border initiatives for facilitating cross-border movement and curbing unregulated and illegal cross-border movement.
These measures included the construction of a gate at the Torkham crossing as well as valid and legal travel documents for all Afghans entering Pakistan. The move is a part of the National Action Plan, initiated in 2015 to curb terrorism.