A report titled ‘Pakistan, the United States and the End Game in Afghanistan: Perceptions of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Elite’, comprising views of Pakistan’s foreign policy officials regarding the country’s stakes in the endgame in Afghanistan was launched at a local hotel on Thursday. The report has been written jointly by Jinnah Institute (JI) and United States Institute of Peace.
Addressing the launch ceremony, JI President Sherry Rehman stressed the need for collaborative efforts, given Pakistan’s pivotal role in the endgame in Afghanistan. She said the report was aimed at bringing Pakistan’s intellectual capital on foreign policy to the table and to clarify America’s evolving priorities and Pakistan’s goals. Rehman said Pakistan had an important stake in Afghanistan’s stability and sovereignty and the country would best support an Afghan-led inclusive reconciliation process, privileging a political surge over a military solution.
She said Pakistan was looking to strengthen ties with neighbours and allies, including Afghanistan and the US. Pakistan was fighting a frontline battle against terrorism at its western border and had paid too high a human, military and economic price to seek solutions based on anything but regional peace. Security Analyst at JI Salman Zaidi talked about the report’s formation and said the report was path-breaking in capturing a spectrum of policy perspectives on the endgame in Afghanistan, documented in several roundtable sessions and interviews with experts.
South Asian Advisor for USIP Moeed Yusuf gave a detailed presentation on findings of the report which reviewed implications of America’s end game strategy in Afghanistan and the region, in addition to how Pakistan could best pursue its national interests given the endgame’s dynamics. According to the report, there was an intrinsic link between the stability of Pakistan and Afghanistan and only an inclusive and relatively efficient government at Kabul would ensure stable governance on both sides of the border, particularly in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Moeed Yusuf also talked about the perceived American civil-military disconnect and failure to define the principal target of military surge in Afghanistan. Former ambassador Aziz Ahmed Khan reiterated the importance of moving faster on reconciliation in Afghanistan, saying that despite being a key ally to the United States on the war on terror, relationship between the two was marred with deep-seated mistrust and mutual suspicions about each other’s intentions. A lively question and answer session followed in which the audience spoke about different aspects of the report and its policy recommendations.
The event was attended by senior diplomats, ambassadors, Pakistan’s foreign policy officials and the civil society.
Foreign policy officials talk about Afghan end-game
