KARACHI: Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, told political leaders in Peshawar this week the country had “exhausted all options” to persuade Afghanistan to curb cross-border militant attacks, expressing regret the administration in Kabul had failed to restrain armed factions, a participant of the meeting said on Tuesday.

General Munir visited Peshawar on Monday, where he received a briefing on the current security situation and ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which borders Afghanistan.

Pakistan has struggled to contain escalating militant violence in KP since a fragile truce between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government collapsed in November 2022. Officials in Islamabad say the TTP leadership is based in Afghanistan from where its attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces are “facilitated” by the Afghan authorities, an allegation denied by Kabul.

During his visit to Peshawar, the army chief engaged with leaders from various political parties, including Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. During the meeting, political representatives expressed “vivid clarity on unflinching support” for the armed forces and law enforcement agencies in the nation’s fight against extremist violence and agreed on the need for a unified front against militant networks, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.

“We have exhausted all our options,” Aftab Sherpao, a former federal minister who heads the Qaumi Watan Party and attended the meeting, told Arab News over the phone, quoting the army chief.

Sherpao said the top Pakistani general issued the comment while responding to political leaders advocating for talks and avoiding confrontation with the Afghan Taliban administration.

“He [the army chief] also said some foreign countries were also engaged in talks to persuade th Taliban in Kabul, but terrorist attacks still continue against Pakistan,” Sherpao added.

Professor Muhammad Ibrahim, another participant and leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Party, corroborated the information, saying that almost all political parties agreed that negotiations with Kabul should continue.

“Almost all political parties emphasized the need for negotiations with Afghanistan, arguing that war is not the solution,” he said.

“The army chief said the negotiations were still going on, but no positive outcome had emerged so far,” Ibrahim continued. “In response we stressed that a positive outcome will eventually come, and talks should continue.”

The JI leader also quoted the army chief as saying the military was not planning a full-scale operation against the TTP but was carrying targeted intelligence-based actions.

Brig. Mehmood Shah, an expert on Pakistan-Afghanistan affairs, criticized the Afghan Taliban for failing to honor the 2020 Doha Agreement, which ended the Afghan war on the condition that Kabul would prevent its soil from being used by militants against other countries.

“The world knows that in the Doha Agreement, the US explicitly stated that Afghanistan must not allow its territory to be used against its neighbors,” he said. “The US is not Afghanistan’s neighbor, so why was it so insistent?”

Shah said the international community knew Afghanistan had been allowing its land to be used against its neighbors.

He noted that Pakistan, a nuclear-capable country with an air force, had shown restraint despite its capabilities.

“Pakistan has been in dialogue with Afghanistan, but Afghanistan is unwilling to act against the TTP,” Shah continued. “If Pakistan then carries out operations inside Afghanistan, Kabul should not complain.”

According to Pakistan’s state broadcaster, PTV News, the army chief informed the meeting that the primary points of contention between Pakistan and Afghanistan were the presence of the banned TTP on Afghan soil and cross-border attacks.

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank Group’s (WBG) Boards of Executive Directors on Tuesday announced a decade-long Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Pakistan, a plan the administration in Islamabad hopes will channel $40 billion in economic support to drive inclusive and sustainable development.

The country plan is a strategic framework that shapes the WBG’s long-term engagement with a country. It is built on a thorough assessment of the nation’s critical challenges and opportunities, ensuring that the group’s financial, technical and advisory resources are precisely aligned with the country’s development priorities for optimal impact.

According to the World Bank, the new framework for Pakistan targets six major areas, including education, health care, environmental resilience and financial management.

“Our new decade-long partnership framework for Pakistan represents a long-term anchor for our joint commitment with the Government to address some of the most acute development challenges facing the country,” said Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “Support to policy and institutional reforms that boost private sector-led growth and create fiscal space to finance the investments needed to address these challenges will remain key in our engagements.”

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Division, the World Bank and its partner institutions have committed a total of $40 billion under the framework. This includes $20 billion from the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), while an additional $20 billion will come from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which focuses on private sector development.

The WBG noted that the country plan aims to reduce child stunting by improving access to clean water, sanitation and nutrition services, while also addressing learning poverty through better foundational education.

Other priorities include bolstering resilience to floods and climate-related disasters, improving food and nutrition security, promoting cleaner energy and better air quality, and enhancing fiscal management to create space for development spending.

Zeeshan Sheikh, IFC Country Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan, highlighted the importance of private sector participation in these areas, saying, “We are focused on prioritizing investment and advisory interventions that will help crowd-in much needed private investment in sectors critical for Pakistan’s sustainable growth and job creation, including energy and water, agriculture, access to finance, manufacturing and digital infrastructure.”

The framework also includes cross-cutting measures such as expanding social safety nets, advancing financial inclusion and enhancing digital and transport connectivity to protect vulnerable populations, particularly women.

Since commencing operations in Pakistan in 1950, the WBG has provided over $48.3 billion in assistance through IBRD, invested $13 billion via IFC to advance private sector-led growth, and delivered $836 million in guarantees through Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Currently, the WBG’s portfolio in Pakistan includes 106 projects with a total commitment of $17 billion.