With the drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan beginning in July, sharp differences have emerged between Washington and Islamabad. The two issues that have rattled Pakistan are the drone attacks and the presence of hundreds of CIA undercover agents in Pakistan. The number of drone attacks has multiplied over the last two years while attacks have been extended to areas outside the two Waziristan agencies also. Instead of resorting to these attacks only in extreme situations, the drone has gradually turned into the ultimate weapon of choice for the US. Similarly hundreds of CIA agents have been inducted inside Pakistan leading to popular resentment, heightened by the Raymond Davis affair.
Eradicating terrorist networks is an existential need for both Islamabad and Kabul. Afghanistan has been through a disastrous civil war for more than thirty years which has intensified with the Taliban fighting the government. The country is badly in need of peace. In Pakistan, terrorist attacks have led to the death of hundreds of innocent civilians and more than two thousand army personnel. There is still no respite to these attacks. Deterioration of law and order has meanwhile turned away potential investors, thus multiplying the countrys economic woes. A victory over terrorists is however predicated on close cooperation between Washington and Islamabad. Nothing could provide a greater comfort to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban than the two countries working at cross purposes as they seem to be doing now.
There is an urgent need for a regional solution that can best be worked out by Pakistan and Afghanistan and supported by the US. Instead of looking at attempts by the two neighbours in the direction with suspicion, the US and its allies should encourage the move. The Taliban groups willing to break their tries with A-Qaeda have to be a part of the solution. The talk about setting up American bases in Afghanistan is highly disruptive. Any foreign bases would be equally unacceptable to the Afghan people and Afghanistans neighbours. An attempt in the direction would make many neighbouring countries wonder whether Taliban sanctuaries or American bases pose a greater threat to them.