Afghan endgame: US envoy Grossman to visit Islamabad later this week

Officials maintain luring the Taliban for negotiations will be his main priority.

ISLAMABAD:

US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman will arrive in Pakistan later this week to review ongoing efforts to end the conflict in the war-torn region by reaching out to the Taliban.

Grossman, who is US President Barack Obama’s point-man for the region, will visit Islamabad during the weekend in a bid to gradually mend the otherwise troubled ties between the two countries, an official of the US embassy told The Express Tribune.

He is scheduled to meet civil and military authorities to discuss Pak-US relations as well as the current situation in Afghanistan.

According to the US State Department, Grossman will follow up on discussions held between the two countries on key bilateral issues raised during several high-profile meetings in Washington and New York last month.

“Ambassador Grossman will continue our work with the Pakistani government to identify our shared interests and focus on actions we can take together,” said an official statement.

It added that the trip will build on recent engagements, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s meetings with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in Washington and President Asif Ali Zardari in New York. The US-Pakistan Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism Working Group convened in Washington recently will also be discussed.

Another Pakistani official maintained the primary focus of Grossman’s visit would be to deliberate over the Afghan reconciliation process. He is expected to discuss measures aimed at luring the ‘reconcilable Taliban’ to the negotiating table.

A joint working group of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US has already been working on modalities to provide a safe passage to Afghan Taliban who are willing to enter the peace process.

In September, the group held its maiden session in Islamabad where Pakistan is believed to have offered to facilitate the safe passage. However, it insisted that all inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue must be a prerequisite for the success of any initiative.

Despite efforts, there are no indications yet if the Afghan reconciliation process is making any headway.

The apparent lack of progress is attributed to trust-deficit among the major players. Diplomatic sources said the Afghan foreign minister recently cancelled his trip to Pakistan due to tensions between the two countries over cross-border raids.

Pakistan also reacted angrily to recent remarks by Afghan President Hamid Karzai outlining certain preconditions for striking a strategic pact with Islamabad.

Observers believe that there seems to be lot of confusion at this stage about the way forward for Afghanistan. They expect some clarity once the US presidential elections are over next month.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2012.