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Roundtable: Afghanistan, the determining factor for Pak-US relations - 20 Jul 2012
Repatriation: ‘Nato pullout to hit Afghan refugees’ - 19 Jul 2012
Pakistan, Britain back bid for Afghan peace - 21 Jul 2012
Trilateral summit
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For peace in Afghanistan
To achieve peace in Afghanistan, a trilateral summit involving Afghanistan, India and Pakistan is needed.
KARACHI: This is with reference to the trilateral summit held in Kabul on July 19. It seemed high on hype but low on substance. The summit failed to answer the one primary concern that all those associated with the ‘future security and stability of Afghanistan’ have: that will the Taliban be willing to become part of the political process? Will they agree to participate in the peace negotiations that may lead to the resolution of the Afghan conflict? Without answers to these questions, the participants of the summit could only hope for a peaceful transition in Afghanistan.
One should be reminded that it was not US policy to negotiate with terrorists. But today, the reality is such that ‘negotiating with the terrorists’ seems to be the most sought-after solution. If dialogue is the weapon of the weak then the Taliban will not be so naïve not to understand why they are being offered dialogue. Those who offer dialogue today were yesterday using Daisy-cutters and Hellfire missiles in the past.
In an irregular war, the biggest virtue is patience. No matter what the cost, there is always an appropriate time for hitting back. The Taliban presumably understand that the time for them to hit back at the coalition forces and the regime in Kabul is now and during the process of withdrawal and even beyond that. Hence, they would not be interested in dialogue.
The summit also recognised Pakistan as the facilitator who will bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. While commitments at the summit were made by the Pakistani prime minister, the fact remains that Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan is tightly controlled by the military. The real question is will the army allow anyone else to have a say in a matter that it considers to be of vital national interest. Will the army commit the Taliban and the Haqqanis to peace agreements without assigning them a role in the future to neutralise Indian influence in Afghanistan?
Haqqanis are believed to be strategic assets by the army and so will commit them to peace only if the Taliban carrying out acts of violence inside Pakistan from hideouts in Afghanistan are stopped. To achieve peace in Afghanistan, a trilateral summit involving Afghanistan, India and Pakistan is needed. The leadership of these countries must agree to stop fighting proxy wars with one another. Until this happens, peace will remain elusive.
Muhammad Ali Ehsan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2012.
Reader Comments (3)
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Why India? It has no border with Afghanistan, so why India needs to be part of any dialogue in Afghanistan? The ISAF forces are mainly NATO members, Pakistan is the supply route and host lot of Afghan refugees so it make sense that Pak be involved but involving India doesn’t make any sense only complicates an already complicated situation. India is meddling in Afghanistan using it as proxy to act against Pak so they are not part of solution they are the problem and should be told to stay out of it.
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@afzaalkhan: Agreed India does not share border with Afghanistan, so does Saudi, UAE or Turkey, but all are being involved in peace process.
Secondly, India is stake holder because of historic relations with afghans, who do not consider them selves as Arabs, like whats many in Pakistan think and there is still lot of gratitude for India.
Pakistan, which considers taliban as its assets, is already facing unprecendented situation within its border, created by other talibs. Better sense prevails
India will never let them come back to power, and will always take care of its own interests
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@Ravi: India should give asylum to all the Afghani refugees that Pakistan has housed and then stop using Afghanistan as a base for criminals to attack into Pakistan before they can say anything about peace in the region.
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