Good, but mostly symbolic

It is difficult to say if the unusual summit meeting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi between the presidents of Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan will have any direct bearing on the battle against terrorism — but the agreement reached to do everything possible to support Afghanistan against militancy is important symbolically. For one, it draws Russia back into the waters stirred up by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. More than anything else, this one event had a massive impact on creating terrorist outfits that have since then become so unfortunate a part of our lives in the region. For reasons linked to its humiliating pullout from Afghanistan in 1989 – an event that had a direct impact on the demise of the former USSR – Russia has sensibly steered clear of the Afghan quagmire since then and avoided getting involved with troop action in that country. It has made it clear this will not change. But nevertheless, the discussion on terrorism between four regional leaders is important. The problem, after all, is one that extends across national boundaries. The involvement of Central Asian fighters in Afghanistan and our own northern areas has come up many times. This issue needs to addressed by the leaders of the Central Asian republics. Indeed, the question of why militancy has taken such strong roots in some former Soviet republics with Muslim majorities but not in others is in itself a fascinating one.

The forging of regional pacts to take on terror is vital. In this context, the discussions that took place in Russia are very important. As the main affected countries, it is mainly up to Pakistan and Afghanistan to deal with the problem. But it is also clear that the problem is now so huge it cannot be tackled by Kabul and Islamabad alone. The involvement of other nations could help smooth over the acrimony that springs up far too often between the two nations and help put in place the cooperation needed to defeat militancy and the militias that drive it on.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2010.