With the formal invitation of President Karzai, Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif paid a visit to Kabul on Saturday, Nov. 30. In a joint press conference with President Karzai, he told that time has reached to hold serious steps for peace talks and successfully ending the war. He also added that his country would facilitate peace talks with Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Ghani Bradar, who previously was released but Afghan officials do not know about his whereabouts. Some Afghan sources claimed that though he was released from prison but his whereabouts have been ambiguous which prevented him any sort of peace talks with Afghan leaders.

On the other hand,President Karzai expressed his satisfaction from the government of Mr. Nawaz Sharif. He said since his rise on power, the Kabul-Islamabad relation has improved. He also added that both had talked about the peace process in detail, like what to do next and how to advance peace talks? Despite somehow relative friendly handshakes under photo shots of journalists, all know that deep down there are various issues that need time be resolved.

Some of the analysts believe that Pakistan have some reservations regarding Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) which was approved overwhelmingly by participants of consultative Loya Jirga which was held in Kabul on Nov. 21. They think that presence of US security forces and its bases might affect the close relation between Washington and Islamabad.

Similarly, there are various issues that Kabul expect Islamabad to do like fighting with Taliban fighters inside its soil, disrupt networks which are involved in spoiling peace in the country and several other issues.

So, despite such disparities, both countries need to work with each other. Both suffer from the tragedy of terrorist and insurgency. Annually, thousands of people are killed on both sides of the border in suicide bombings. Both the countries need to sit together honestly and draw a strategy that would help them in combating growing terrorism and at the same time support them to bring tranquility and prosperity for their people, which what the common people on both sides of the border would require as they have been facing disorder, war and instability for a long time. Indeed, the common ground between two countries is so large and only close cooperation would capacitate them make maximum use of it.