The trilateral approach
Afghanistan is in the multilateral spotlight. The concern expressed in Goa at the SCO foreign ministers moot for ensuring peace and prosperity for the war-torn country was eloquently taken forward by China and Pakistan this weekend in Islamabad. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Zardari resolved to work diligently for uplifting the landlocked state, so that apart from regional congeniality, geo-economics could go ahead, as billions stand invested under BRI’s flagship of CPEC. The troika foreign ministers’ rubbing of shoulders as Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi also had an opportunity to put across his country’s woes made it a perfect diplomatic mosaic. Likewise, the meeting of Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir with both the foreign dignitaries made a consolidated civil-military impression that Pakistan is eager to achieve perpetual peace on its western borders, and is willing to walk the extra few miles with the regional states.
China has gained an important status in Afghanistan, as it has a touch-based policy of parallel development without any military strings. The fact that Chinese leadership hosted the Taliban even before they entered as victors in Kabul is sign of its acumen, and had sought and furnished necessary guarantees that the religious card will not be on the table as their bilateralism goes ahead. In other words, it had eloquently safeguarded Chinese Muslim interests from Afghan interference and likewise had hinted to deal with a hardline militia in Kabul.
The purpose of the deal is pure geo-economics. China’s interests in building trade and infrastructure connections down the south, Mideast and Africa must see a serene Afghanistan. No one understands this perspective better than Pakistan, as it has been a victim of terrorism for the last four decades, and absence of peace in Afghanistan has ruined its fabric. The trilateral approach is laudable, and all that Afghans need is an era of serenity, development and non-interference. Meddling in Southwest Asia on the part of foreign powers is a leaf of the past, and even now the SCO and all immediate neighbours agree that it’s time to rebuild the war-devastated country.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2023.
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