Prudence demands timely actions supported by the international community as against initiatives that are non-starters.
KARACHI: This is with reference to the story “Pakistan-US diplomacy created Doha road map” (June 20).
Even a layman can say with authenticity that the US has not only failed but has also been defeated in Afghanistan. Even a stalemate between a strong and a weak side implies that the weaker side has triumphed. The Doha peace initiative is a positive step towards peace in the region, but will it be lasting or even productive? Or to phrase it more clearly, is this the right forum for negotiations? Where and when in known history have two warring sides sat together and come to the right conclusions, i.e., lasting peace to satisfy all stakeholders? And more importantly, when one side is winning and the other is about to “take off”, why do we still believe that peace dividends will not tilt towards a particular side to the chagrin of all other stakeholders?
When one talks about peace in Afghanistan, the players involved are the people of Afghanistan, the Afghan government, the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, regional stakeholders, the international community, donors, etc. And for lasting peace, the issues that need to be discussed are the make-up of the future Afghan government (keeping in view various local stakeholders), foreign policy, the type of government, the Afghan Army, sovereignty issues (to avoid the future harbouring of al Qaeda-type groups/foreigners), education, women emancipation, etc.
Can the present forum of Doha talks address all these issues, and most importantly, who is going to be the guarantor of the decisions arrived at? One must realise that the present Afghan government and its army is no match for the Afghan Taliban.
A third party, i.e., an internationally recognised body can decide and actualise an Afghan peace road map. The United Nations is the right forum to look towards for such an initiative. Prudence demands timely actions supported by the international community as against initiatives that are non-starters.
Brigadier (retd) Iftikhar Ayub
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2013.
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