Pakistan is using every means possible to weaken Afghanistan. From backing anti-Afghan government militants to creating transit problems, and even using refugees as a pressure tool, Islamabad has never shied away from doing anything it deemed could undermine Kabul. Since the years of Afghan Jihad against the Soviet Union, Pakistan has always tried to portray that it has also been affected by war and violence in Afghanistan. However, the fact is that it has relentlessly tried over the last half-century to add fuel to the fire in Afghanistan.
By temporarily closing its consulate in Jalalabad, Islamabad once again showed its enmity with Afghanistan standing on its own feet. In a press release, the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul has said it closed its consulate in Jalalabad due to interference by Nangarhar Governor Hayatullah Hayat in the affairs of the Consulate General. Based on recurrent complaints made by people, Hayatullah Hayat has reportedly called the consulate’s staff, and asked them to address the problems in visa issuance process. According to reports, visa applicants in Jalalabad are faced with numerous problems because of corruption and disorder in the visa issuance process, even to the extent that they have to stand in queues for their turn for a whole night.
The move came after the Nangarhar governor launched a campaign to ban the use of Pakistani rupees in the province. Nangarhar is among the provinces where virtually all small and big business deals are done in Pakistani rupee. The use of foreign currency in business transactions is among other factors that have led to the devaluation of Afghani, and therefore Afghanistan reserves the right in the light of all international norms to ban the use of foreign currency in business deals in order to stabilize the value of its currency. Indeed, Pakistan has closed its consulate to protest the anti-Pakistani rupee campaign pretending the provincial governor’s interference in its consulate affairs.
The key issue in relations with Pakistan is that the country is still not ready to accept the independence and sovereignty of Afghanistan. For Islamabad, it is hard to accept Afghanistan being able to stand on its own feet despite being harmed by Pakistan in one name or another for decades. Pakistan has to face reality and embrace its Afghan policies accordingly.
Pakistan and yet another display of its enmity towards Afghanistan
