Pak-Afghan credibility gap
Pakistan has abandoned the quest for strategic depth in Afghanistan. In deference to the wishes of Kabul and to help restore peace in Afghanistan, it has recently released a group of Taliban leaders who were in its custody. Islamabad has promised to release more if this can be helpful in bringing peace to the neighbouring country. The development indicates Pakistan’s commitment to Afghan reconciliation. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has stated in Washington, Islamabad and Kabul that Pakistan remains committed to using the existing trilateral mechanism to promote an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.
Last week, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Hina Khar were both in Brussels to meet EU and NATO leaders. Both supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. On Kayani’s return home, a corps commanders’ meeting endorsed the policy. This indicates a big change in the army’s thinking regarding Afghanistan. Earlier, Islamabad was reluctant to play any role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. It is now actively pursuing the goal. All this has somehow failed to remove the distrust in Kabul.
On Saturday, Karazai claimed that the recent assassination attempt on his intelligence chief was planned in neighbouring Pakistan. Though he declined to accuse the government directly, he insisted that since the attack was conducted in a very sophisticated way, this must have been the handiwork of a professional intelligence service from the neighbourhood. The accusation was all the more inappropriate after the Taliban had owned the attack. Karzai forgets that over the last two decades, the Taliban have developed a relatively high level of competence. That in December 2009, a Taliban suicide bomber could sneak into the high security Forward Operating Base Chapman, and kill seven of the CIA’s most experienced agents, including the chief of the base, is an indicator of their proficiency. After the suicide attack that killed Burhanudin Rabbani and the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, one had expected the Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid to have ordered foolproof measures. The incident shows that this was not done. Even if Karzai possessed any incontrovertible evidence to substantiate the claim, he should have approached Islamabad instead of indulging in public accusations.
With the US fighting force poised to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, it is vital for the two countries to urgently improve mutual cooperation. Hopefully, the issue would be under discussion at the tripartite summit in Ankara. Unless they devise measures to urgently close the credibility gap, Pakistan and Afghanistan are likely to be overtaken by events.