Post-NATO Afghanistan: Call to address Pakistan’s concerns

Expert warns premature pullout could lead to further destabilisation.

Participants of a discussion on Tuesday called for addressing Pakistan’s concerns with regard to the impending withdrawal of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) from Afghanistan.

The discussion was organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), said a press release issued by the institute.

Ole Kvaernoe, the director of the Institute for Strategy at the Faculty of Strategy and Military Operations of the Royal Danish Defence College, expressed his concern over the situation in Afghanistan.

He warned that a premature withdrawal of foreign forces from the country could lead to further destabilisation in the region.

Prof. Nazir Hussain of the School of Political and International Studies at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) said that Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan has been grossly misunderstood by the west. He maintained that Pakistan wants a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

The professor argued that Afghanistan and Pakistan are closely interlinked and even interdependent and their relationship should not be compromised for a greater Indian role there.

He criticised the overemphasis on military strategy at the cost of political reconciliation in Afghanistan and cautioned against a post-war policy that fails to take into account the internal dynamics of Afghan state and society.

Prof. Salma Malik of the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS) at the QAU said that instead of emphasising the strengthening of the Karzai regime in Afghanistan, Nato countries need to focus on evolving a broad-based and inclusive political reconciliation programme.

Speaking on relations between India and Pakistan, IRS Senior Fellow Brigadier Bashir Ahmed said socio-economic compulsions of both the countries are forcing them to evolve a negotiated settlement to their disputes. He was of the opinion that the relations between the two countries are stabilising.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2012.