Islamabad to impose control over Pakistan-Afghan border

The top Afghan and Pakistani security officials will meet in the near future to discuss steps for improving border management between the two nations. Sartaj Aziz, National Security and Foreign Affairs advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that Islamabad is looking to impose great control over the country's porous western borders with Afghanistan. Aziz said that Pakistan will expedite visa issuance process and special passes will be issued to people from the border region in a bid to facilitate their cross-border movements, according to the Afghan (Khaama Press). "Even now we issue 1,000 or 2,000 visas to the Afghans everyday. This is a process and we will know the outline of the new border management once Afghanistan and Pakistan work out its details. We cannot let this border remain porous. We now have only two legal border crossings. We will increase them and will facilitate the legal movement of people with visas or border permits," Aziz said. Aziz said Islamabad wants to address Afghan concerns about cross-border attacks, and India has also been approached to refrain providing support for rival Afghan factions after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan next year. He said, "We have told India that supporting different factions in Afghanistan is not good," he said. "What Afghans decide among themselves is acceptable to everyone. [India] having one favorite, and Pakistan having another, as well as our interference, does not help the situation in Afghanistan."