KABUL - In a confidential letter to Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Ashraf Ghani has set out a list of demands in terms of bridging the neighboring divide and ending extremism in the region – with the primary focus being on Afghanistan's security.

Ghani's letter, of which TOLOnews has a copy, calls for: "An official declaration by the political leadership of Pakistan condemning the launching of the Talban offensive, operation; a directive by the military leadership that sanctuary will be denied to the Taliban and effective measures by the security forces and civil authorities that the directive is carried out."

According to a source from within the Presidential Palace, the letter was sent to Sharif by Ghani recently - a letter that reportedly needs to be responded to within the next two weeks.

"If this does not happen, the window of opportunity will be closed," said the source.

The letter meanwhile goes on to state that: "A directive to extend the counter-terror campaign to the Haqqani network and verification that those responsible for the recent terror campaign in Afghanistan are arrested."

In addition it states that a directive needs to be issued to "place the leaders of the Quetta Shura and the Peshawar Shura under house arrest and to initiate legal proceedings against them for threatening a friendly state."

Ghani goes on to say that "agreeing on an exchange of prisoners such as Mulla Bridar (Afghan Taliban Commander) for (members of) Tehrik-i-Taliban-i-Pakistan".

He also said: "A directive to all medical facilities to turn over those with war wounds to the custody of security officials for investigation and arrest."

Another directive he called for was that the factories producing fertilizer and switches for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) be allowed to sell only to authorized firms.

Lastly he said there was a need for an "agreement to carry out a series of simultaneous operations to deny passage to TTP (Tehrik Taliban Pakistan) and TTA (Tehrik Taliban Afghanistan), such as Baramcha."

The letter is a three-page document with the first two pages outlining the issue of insurgency faced by Afghanistan. The third and final page lists his demands.

Ghani started his letter by pointing out that during the second term of President Hamid Karzai's presidency, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan descended into a "vicious circle of distrust" and became a public blame game.

He said in the letter that this essentially led to the creation of a sense of uncertainty which further led to the emergence of "terrorism and extremism" as a threat to the state system.

The letter states that directly after Ghani's inauguration he quickly moved to shape the domestic, regional and global relations in a bid to bring stability to Afghanistan.

He stated in the letter that he offered a fresh definition of the key problem and a process for building mutual confidence. "The key problem in relations between the two countries during the last 13 years has been an undeclared condition of hostilities between the two countries," read the letter.

"Peace therefore has two related but distinctive aspects: peace between Afghan state, as represented by its legitimate elected leaders and the Taliban and related armed opposition groups that have distinctive political agendas."

The letter stated that there is a sense of urgency in regards to reaching an agreement by Afghanistan and Pakistan as "the changing and expanding ecology of terror and extremism presents a clear danger to the two states and the state system".

In his letter, Ghani referred to his recent trip to Pakistan and said that there is a window of opportunity that can and should be "broadened to a door, a corridor, a road and eventually into a super highway of cooperation between the two states."

The letter went on to state: "Regardless of his firm commitment to peace, President Ghani has no choice but to become a War President to ensure the survival of his country and the safety of Afghan women and children." (Tolonews)