The controversy has again highlighted political tensions and historic mistrust plaguing relations between the South Asian neighbors, which share a nearly 2,600-kilometer border.
The latest trigger came from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, who routinely accuses Pakistan and its spy agency of supporting and directing the Taliban’s insurgency in Afghanistan, charges Islamabad rejects.
In a public speech earlier this month in eastern Nangarhar province, next to the Pakistani border, Mr. Mohib not only repeated his allegations but called Pakistan a “brothel house.”
His remarks outraged leaders in Islamabad, who denounced them, saying they “debased all norms of interstate communication.”
A senior Pakistani official spoke on condition of anonymity that his government lodged a strong protest with the Afghan side and conveyed “deep resentment” in Pakistan over Afghan NSA’s “undignified” remarks.
The official said Kabul has been told Islamabad, henceforth, would not hold bilateral engagements with the Afghan national security adviser.
It has also been conveyed “by our side that Afghan side is not serious in engaging with Pakistan, but only in the blame game and degrading Pakistan’s sincere efforts,” the official added.
Diplomatic sources confirmed to VOA that Pakistan’s military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, during his visit to Kabul this month, had raised the issue in his meeting with President Ghani in the presence of Nick Carter, Britain’s chief of the defense staff.
The office of national security council has yet to comment.
(Source: VOA)
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