Pakistan appoints new Afghan envoy amid complex challenge

Former ambassador Asif Ali Durrani on Tuesday was appointed as special representative of Pakistan on Afghanistan two-and-a-half months after his predecessor stepped down.

A notification available with The Express Tribune read: "The Prime Minister has been pleased to approve the appointment of Ambassador (retd) Asif Ali Khan Durrani as Special Representative on Afghanistan with immediate effect."

Durrani served as deputy chief of Pakistan’s mission in Kabul from 2005 to 2009. He also served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran.

His appointment comes at a time when Pakistan is facing a complex challenge in Afghanistan. The most immediate one is to sort out the lingering sanctuaries of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The new envoy will have his work cut out as he has to deal with multiple challenges.

Pakistan, unlike the past, is no longer seeking any peace talks with the TTP. But the Afghan Taliban are still adamant on dialogue. China is believed to have been trying to find a "workable" solution to tackle TTP between Pakistan and the Afghan interim government.

Also read: Afghan peace at centre of trilateral talks

His predecessor Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq stepped down in March. Sadiq, who served as Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul played a central role in the Afghan peace efforts but opposed direct talks with the TTP.

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 was 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 to 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 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.