Militant groups based in the Fata region that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan remain a source of attrition in relations between the two countries. The tensions and misgivings reverberate at all levels; whether the president of Afghanistan, his ministers or officials, almost all of them stand united in condemning Baitullah Mehsud and the likes of him for the trouble inside Afghanistan, particularly in the 12 southern and southeastern provinces.
Despite this muddle of mutual distrust and bickering, however, the spirit of Afghan hospitality remains alive, displayed recently by none other than Farooq Wardak, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs & Director General Office of Administrative Affairs.
During a recent visit of Pakistani journalists to Kabul, Farooq Wardak, who also heads the  Council of Ministers Secretariat, thereby making him one of the busiest persons, went out of his way to demonstrate that whatever the level of political animosity, it cannot dampen the spirit of Afghan hospitality.
Wardak, whom foreign diplomats also call a workaholic for his promptness and commitment, won the hearts of about a dozen Pakistani journalists, who had been invited by the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) as part of a process that is aimed at bringing people of influence together to help remove misgivings and improve the bilateral relationship.
Wardak was all smiles and attentive to what we conveyed to him. He also reiterated his government's position on the insurgency that is sweeping south and southeastern Afghanistan, and which everybody in Afghanistan believes is rooted in the tribal areas.
But Wardak's tone and tenor was certainly different from that of his president and several other officials. He wrapped his criticism of the government in diplomacy and tinged it with the warmth and sincerity of a "friend of Pakistan". Not only did he attentively listened to his visitors but also invited them for a sumptuous lunch next day at the sprawling lawn of one of his close friends. This looked like the Afghan hospitality at its best, with one of the busiest ministers devoting about three hours of his precious time for a candid interaction with the Pakistani media representatives.
"I understand the problems that Pakistan has faced since March last year and unfortunately that also obstructed forward movement as far as the follow-up of the Peace Jirga held at Kabul in August is concerned," he told Pulse during the lunch.
The peace jirga had proposed a follow-up mechanism Jirgagai i.e. mini jirga - comprising 25 representatives each from both countries. Afghanistan completed the process in October with nomination of its representatives drawn from all walks of life, with ex-foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah as its head. But Pakistan's internal turmoil stemming from the sacking of five dozen judges, Benazir Bhutto's assassination, elections in February and the continued controversy over the judges' restoration have all combined to put the composition of the Pakistani jirga on hold.
Wardak informed said he sent the list of Afghan Mini Jirga to the Pakistani interior ministry on June 21 again.
"We also want the Jirga to be a representative of Pakistan including Sindhis and Punjabis also," said Wardak adding that Terrorism and Militancy is not specific to Pashtoons of the region only. It is a regional phenomenon. We are treating it as a national issue and thus have people from all ethnic groups in it. Pakistan must also make it a national Jirga rather than a body comprising Pashtoons and Balochis only, Wardak said.
This demand also resonated during our meetings with members of the Woolasi Jiega the lower house of the parliament and the Senate; Hisham Follad, a member of the lower house from Ningarhar, voiced more or less similar views. Do not compose the Jirga and the jirgagai along ethnic and linguistic lines. The war against terrorists is national, so should be the response to it from all sections of the society.
"Terrorists are striking every where, Peshawar, Islamabad, or Karachi, or Kandahar, Jalalabad, or Mazare Sharif these enemies of humanity are striking all over," Follad said while recalling that  culture, language and history are the is the natural glue that binds the people on both sides of the Durand Line.
Other MPs including Ms Aryan Yoon and Bakhtar Aminzai were all praise for Pakistan's hospitality for the Afghan refugees. We sincerely value that and would like the bilateral relationship to grow beyond mutual distrust.
"Media and Parliamentarians are called upon to bring the two countries together," said Aminzai in good Urdu (that he had learnt during his stay and studies in Pakistan).
Aminzai said leaders from both countries need to refrain from high-flying rhetoric that keeps vitiating the atmosphere.
Ms Yoon, an ethnic Pashtoon, was quite candid about her thoughts on Pakistan; it is really strange that Pakistan has made so many sacrifices for Afghanistan since 1979 yet it is the only country being accused of abetting terrorism from its border regions, she remarked.
Yoon also expressed surprise over the presence and possible interference of other countries in Afghanistan; wonder why Pakistan alone. Perhaps because Pakistan has not been able to convince others of its commitment to the war against militant groups.
While appreciating the German foundation's role in bringing Pak-Afghan journalists and parliamentarians together, Ms Yoon and other MPs also drew a parallel between this initiative and the one that exists between India and Pakistan. Track Two, they said, led to easing of tensions between the two countries. The same can happen in Pakistan as well, they said.
What people in both countries indeed need is not to view each other with through the prism of their respective establishment. The innuendos contained in officials’ positions keep muddying waters, and thereby straining the relationship every now and then. Journalists, MPs and businessmen need to speak independent of the official rhetoric and thereby contribute to confidence building measures, the way it happened between India and Pakistan. This was the conclusion that Pakistani journalists drew after their meetings with Afghan Parliamentarians and journalists.