Special envoy on Afghanistan steps down

Pakistan's troubleshooter for Afghanistan, who played a central role in the Afghan peace efforts but opposed direct talks with the TTP, has stepped down citing personal reasons.

Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq announced his resignation in a statement posted on his official Twitter handle on Wednesday. His announcement came as a surprise as only recently he was part of the high-powered Pakistani delegation that visited Kabul.

Some observers believe that his resignation indicates a possible shift in Pakistan’s Afghan policy, something he may not concur with. Sadiq, however, told The Express Tribune that there was nothing of that sort as he had been planning his resignation for a while.

Separately, in a statement he had requested the government to relieve him from his duties so he could focus on his “personal pursuits, including family, books, and agriculture/environmental interests”.

Sadiq expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other stakeholders for their unwavering support during his tenure as special representative. He also acknowledged the efforts of his colleagues, who worked tirelessly to improve the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"I deeply appreciate the hard work of many of my colleagues who spent long hours to make Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship work," he further said.

He previously served as Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul from 2008 to 2014, during which he played a pivotal role in removing mistrust between non-Pashtun parties in Afghanistan, including the Northern Alliance.

Sadiq was also a key figure in Pakistan's efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table in 2018, following a request from former US president Donald Trump to jumpstart the peace process.

He stepped down at a time when Pakistan is pushing the Afghan Taliban to tackle the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which in recent months stepped up terrorist attacks inside the country.

Sadiq was part of the delegation led by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif that visited Kabul recently where Pakistan not only presented “irrefutable evidence” of TTP sanctuaries but also asked the interim government to take action against the terrorist outfit.

Ambassador Sadiq opposed direct talks with the TTP when Pakistan initiated the peace process after the Afghan Taliban takeover in August 2021. He was believed to have refused to be part of the delegation that held talks with the TTP.

He was against holding direct talks with the TTP and instead was in favour of using the Afghan Taliban for this purpose.

After the change of army command and retirement of Lt General Faiz Hameed, who was known as the architect of the Afghan policy that envisaged direct talks with TTP, Pakistan abandoned that approach. The same message was conveyed to the Afghan Taliban during the recent visit of Pakistani delegation to Kabul.

The Afghan Taliban offered Pakistan to disarm TTP and relocate its fighters from border regions but with a caveat that Islamabad will have to bear the cost of that plan.