KARACHI AND KABUL
BY L. F. RUSHBROOK WILLIAMS AMONG the few `credit' items so far to emerge from the Middle Eastern crisis is the dawn of a better understanding be- tween Karachi and Kabul. These two Islamic neighbours, whose interests are complementary, and who have the best of reasons for close friendship, have remained at enmity because of the gratuitous but embittered Afghan effort to promote the dream of `Pakhtunistan'—the separate Pathan State which no considerable body of Pathan opinion now seriously desires. Pakistan's persistent, but largely unavailing, efforts to achieve friendly relations were valuably reinforced last August, when President Iskander Mirza paid a highly successful visit to Kabul. His forthright assurances of Pakistan's friendship, backed up by his intricate knowledge of the Pathan mind (his name is still a household word on the North-West Frontier, where he served so long), went far to remove the real fear about the effects of Pakistani influence in the tribal areas which underlies Afghan bitterness. Even so, Pakistan's demarche might have failed. But by the end of November, when the Afghan Prime Minister, HRH Prince Daud Khan, accom- panied by a strong delegation of colleagues and advisers, paid an eight-day visit to Karachi, Pakistan's hand had been strengthened by the clear necessity for Muslim solidarity in face of Russia's present efforts to disrupt the Islamic world.
The Afghan delegation arrived only a few days after the Prime Minister, Mr. Suhrawardy, had returned from attending a conference of the Islamic members of the Baghdad Pact; and the new discussions were certainly conditioned by the serious warnings which he has given to the whole Muslim world about the dangers arising from Soviet intrigue in the Middle East.
No sensible person expects Afghanistan and Pakistan to arrive at an immediate agreement over `Pakhtunistan,' in which Afghanistan is unfortunately—and quite vainly—involved; but much venom has been taken out of the controversy; and rela- tions between Karachi and Kabul have greatly improved as a result of the Karachi discussions. After the visit of King Zahir Shah to Pakistan, which is planned for early in the New Year, and is to be followed by Mr. Suhrawardy's acceptance of a cordial invitation to Kabul, it may be hoped that a firm under- standing will be reached. But it has taken the realisation of a common danger to overcome Afghan prejudice against grasp- ing Pakistan's hand of friendship.
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