ISLAMABAD - Pakistan for the first time has made a significant military assistance offer to Afghanistan to train its military and provide necessary defence equipment to help the Kabul government in dealing with possible security challenges after the US/NATO forces withdrawal from Afghanistan by 9/11 this year, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan said yesterday.

The Ambassador in an exclusive telephonic interview with The Nation said Kabul is yet to respond to the Pakistan’s offer.

The US forces in Afghanistan were providing the largest military training and assistance to Afghan security forces, but this process would be halted after closing down of US military bases and withdrawal of their forces from Afghanistan including training facilities. Explaining the Pakistan’s defence offer, Ambassador Khan said, the purpose is to help Afghan forces in countering the possible surge in terrorist attacks on Kabul which are expected after withdrawal of US forces.

“There are a number of terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan, which could re-emerge taking the benefit of evacuation of US forces and Pakistan’s defence cooperation is made in that context”, Ambassador Mansoor Ahmed Khan remarked.

He said he held a meeting yesterday with Salahuddin Rabbani, son of former President Burhanuddin  Rabbani, and discussed the peace process with him. “All Afghan factions are ready to push forward the peace process and ready to cooperate with each other”, Ambassador Khan said.

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Talking about post-withdrawal security and peace plan, Ambassador Khan said peace and political plan by the Kabul government is ready and has been shared with Pakistan but Afghan Taliban are yet to give their peace plan to the Kabul government.

“Both Taliban and Afghan government representatives are holding talks in Doha to finalise a  possible political accord on the basis of which political roadmap of Pakistan could be decided, and this remains a big challenge.”

The ambassador said there could be two challenges which may emerge for Pakistan after the forces withdrawal; first, he said, there would be a huge security vacuum across Afghanistan after withdrawal of US forces, which is why Pakistan is ready to help Kabul in meeting this challenge.

Talking about the second challenge, the ambassador said, due to the deteriorating security situation, the peace process is expected to receive a setback, which is why Pakistan is reaching out to all political factions to convince them not to break down the peace process. Ambassador Mansoor said the reason Pakistan is providing intelligence and military cooperation to Kabul, because it is in Pakistan’s interest. “If there is peace in Afghanistan, there would be peace in Pakistan and the region”, Ambassador Mansoor said.

However, he regretted the recent anti-Pakistan tirade by Afghan National Security Adviser and said such statements are counterproductive in making bilateral ties stronger and improving understanding.

Asked if there are differences between US officials and the Taliban, the ambassador said few expectations from both sides were yet to be fulfilled which is why there are misunderstandings between them. “However, Ambassador Zalmay and the Taliban are holding talks to remove any misunderstanding and push the peace process forward,” he said.

The ambassador said Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar would visit Pakistan soon for which dates of his visit are being finalised.