There is neither a peace process nor an endgame in Afghanistan. This was stated by Rahimullah Yousafzai during a roundtable on “Afghanistan: An Elusive Peace Process” held by the Institute of Regional Studies, said a press release.
He said all the signs indicated a long-term US presence in Afghanistan, which means continuing war in the country and, by extension, in Pakistan.
He added that the US presence in Afghanistan would soon be institutionalised under a strategic partnership agreement between Afghanistan and the US after endorsement by the Afghan Loya Jirga, spelling an unstable future for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yusufzai also viewed the strategic agreement between Afghanistan and India as an impediment towards peace in Afghanistan, as he believed that the agreement had killed any incentive for Pakistan to continue supporting the peace process.
Yousafzai disclosed that the Taliban were negotiating with Nato through Tayyab Agha and other members of the Taliban in Germany. He said that for the Taliban, negotiating far away from Pakistan was an expression of independence from the country, which was a matter of concern for Pakistan.
Besides this act of defiance against Islamabad, Yusufzai did not see much substance in the negotiation process though.
He was of the opinion that the Nato wanted to negotiate from a position of strength, while the Taliban wanted to do the same and would never agree to a settlement as long as Nato’s ambitions remain unclear to them.
He also made an interesting claim that some of the Taliban commanders negotiating with Nato in Germany were on the UN Blacklist and could not technically travel internationally.
Yusufzai also said that the Haqqani Network was operating independently from what the west calls the Quetta Shura Taliban (QST), but it would never betray Mullah Omar, as Sirajuddin Haqqani is also a member of the QST.
Yusufzai shared that India is actively investing in the future of Afghans with a carefully spent $ 2 billion in development assistance.
India, he argued, had learnt its lesson from being unable to penetrate Afghanistan throughout the 1990s, adding that Pakistani decision makers should learn from the course correction of the Indians and build lasting relations with all parties in Afghanistan, rather than the relationships based on short-term interests and mutual suspicion.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2011.
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Pakistan army should stop filling their pockets with U.S and Nato dollars. We need to close our borders and start sending these Afghans that came during the 70's and later back to their now independent and developing country. We need to clean our own house first!