Breakthrough in Kabul

Kabul's nod to act vehemently against non-state actors, and mend fences with Pakistan no less than epoch-making moment

There is finally some breakthrough with Afghanistan. After weeks of unrest and revulsion on the borders, it seems the differences have been ironed out at a high-powered sitting in Kabul. The assurance from Kabul that ‘concrete steps’ will be undertaken to ‘neutralise activities of militants’ is a promising outcome, and goes on to add a feather in the cap of their otherwise checkered bilateralism. Kabul’s nod to act vehemently against the non-state actors based on Afghan soil, and at the same time the realisation to mend fences with Pakistan is no less than an epoch-making moment. This unanimity had been missing for several months, as Pakistan was trying its best to persuade the dispensation in the Southwest Asian state to walk the talk and cleanse the country of disgruntled elements.

Pakistan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan, Ambassador Asif Ali Durrani deserves special praise for his skills in diplomacy as he was able to sort out the mess at hand in a delicate manner. The closure of the Torkham border, the surge of activities inside Pakistan by TTP and their likes as well as the brewing turbulence in inter-state relations was posing a serious security challenge. The firm word from Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, formally notified by his office itself to the media, stressing that both the countries should refrain from making public statements that fuel mutual mistrust, backed with the promise to weed out terror elements is, indeed, an achievement.

This meeting was a vindication for Pakistan as it was noted that fugitive TTP leadership is holed inside Afghanistan, and must be taken out. Likewise, the decision to hold ‘regular consultations’ to review the security situation along the nearly 2,600km border and to beef up counterterrorism exercises by sharing notes on intelligence gathering is the way to go. It’s time to realise that both the countries are losing out on the potential of geo-economics by merely being poles apart in striking a consensus against terror fissures. This impediment must go.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2023.

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