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Pakistani experts and analysts believed that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's recent visit to Pakistan has offered a golden opportunity to both countries to improve relations for the peace and welfare of their people.
"It is a historic moment for both countries, and I think Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is fully committed to improving relations with Pakistan. What Pakistan does will be seen in the next few weeks. I hope and pray, it realizes the significance of this moment, " Executive Director of the Regional Peace Institute Raoof Hasan told Xinhua on Sunday.
Ghani concluded his two-day visit to Pakistan on Saturday after holding talks with political and security leaders on key security issues and the expansion of bilateral economic relations.
Hasan said the visit was made at a crucial time when the region is transitioning from a U.S. security presence, with the withdrawal of NATO-led forces coming at the same time as a change in Afghanistan's leadership.
Terming it an historic visit that can help resolve old issues between the two nations, Hasan said, "I think this is an opportunity for Pakistan to grab with both hands rather than to step away."
Addressing a joint press briefing along with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday, Ghani called for the start of a new era of mutual trust and cooperation in all areas between the two countries.
"We are going to leave the past behind and work for the future. We will not permit the past to destroy the future," said Ghani.
"The Afghan president's call to bury the past and to move into the future, I think is the only way forward," said Hasan.
The analyst also appreciated Ghani's visit to the Pakistan army 's General Headquarters and placing a wreath at the memorial of the martyrs in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
"It was a very significant shift from our relations with Afghanistan in the past. It was an acknowledgment of the sacrifices that the armed forces have paid and the suffering Pakistan has endured on account of fighting terrorists," said Hasan.
Urging both countries to form a mechanism for intelligence sharing and cooperation to eliminating terror from their respective soils, Hasan said, "If they continue to live at loggerheads, if they continue to remain at odds with each other, then I feel that the menace of terror would neither be eliminated in Afghanistan nor in Pakistan."
During the press briefing, Sharif said both countries agreed that connectivity and regional economic cooperation are the indispensable elements of bilateral engagement.
He also reiterated Pakistan's commitment to comprehensively upgrading cooperation with Afghanistan in all fields, including security, economics, education and culture.
During the two-day visit, both neighbors also signed agreements to improve bilateral trade.
"Both the leaderships are committed to increasing mutual trade manifold, and I think it is the most convenient way of strengthening the bond of friendship between the two countries," said Hasan.
Ghani valued the developments and achievements during the visit and stated, "I welcome the enormous steps taken to achieve progress in the economy. We have overcome the obstacles of the past 13 years in three days."
Hasan appreciated the commonalties between the two countries and urged the two governments to cooperate in as many fields as possible on an urgent basis, in order to come closer and to remove the discomfort and mistrust that developed during the last decade and to further develop connectivity and relations.
Talking about future relations between the two neighbors, Hasan concluded, "I see only one future and that is a future of friendship, collaboration and cooperation."
