'No positive response from Pak on SA strategy'

Welcoming the South Asia Strategy announced by President Donald Trump last August, Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar told a Washington audience that it already has a significant impact on the reduction of violence and capabilities of the terrorists and to create an enabling environment for our peace and reconciliation strategy.

The response from the region has been mixed, Atmar said in his remarks on "Progress on Peace and Stability in Afghanistan" at the US Institute of Peace. "Unfortunately, we haven't had any positive response from Pakistan. Not any change in the policy that they are pursuing," he said.

Noting that the response from the wider region is slightly mixed, Atmar said while there is a regional consensus on peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, the consensus on how to fight the terrorists has broken slightly.

"Unfortunately, there are actors in the region that draw a distinction between good and bad terrorists. Unfortunately, another sign of that breakdown of consensus is that we all agreed to have state-to-state relations for counter terrorism. But there are those now who look at state to non-state actors relations for counter-terrorism with serious implications for all of us," Atmar said.

"Like that there are those who say that they work with the Taliban against Daish or against the ISIS. Not only this is unethical but also self-defeating in terms of policy. Without going into details of this we are in an environment where while we have made significant progress but we also have challenges primarily associated to the growth of the foreign fighters and the weakening of regional cooperation," said the top Afghan official. Atmar said Afghanistan faces threat from a nexus of violent extremism, transnational criminalized networks and state sponsorship of terrorists.

"It's not just a threat against Afghanistan. It's a threat against, the region and by extension against the entire global community," he said.

Noting that this is a common thread from a common enemy which calls for a shared mission and responsibility, Atmar said it's not just the Taliban and the Haqqani network that they are fighting.