The ‘preliminary’ talks must be meaningful
The US special envoy James Dobbins is in Islamabad to hold consultations on the agenda of talks between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Barack Obama, scheduled for October 23. The US and Pakistan share a number of concerns but often differ on how to redress them. Both want peace in Afghanistan and the elimination of extremism and terrorism from Pakistan. There, however, are differences on launching an operation in the North Waziristan and on drone strikes. Washington maintains that the Afghan Taliban, Al Qaeda and foreign militants use NW as a launching pad for attacks inside Afghanistan. Despite repeated calls by Washington, Pakistan has avoided a military operation there. It has maintained at times that an operation in the area would disperse the terrorists who would then multiply attacks inside Pakistan, while at other times it has argued that the vast, rugged and mountainous terrain is unsuitable for military action. Others suggest that the army wants to preserve the Haqqani network, considering it a strategic asset in the post-US departure scenario.
With fears of strong government and public opposition to any possible hot pursuit in the agency, the US has taken recourse to drone strikes to take out prominent Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban figures. This has led to the killing of non-combatants on a fairly large scale followed by protests by Pakistan’s political parties. This year alone till September 30, the US had launched 22 drone strikes in the two Waziristan agencies killing at least 128 people. Nawaz Sharif has conveyed Pakistan’s concerns to every American dignitary from ambassadors Olson to James Dobbins and Secretary of State John Kerry. The US wants Pakistan to encourage the Afghan Taliban to hold talks with the US and the Afghan government or with the Afghan High Peace Council. Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate intra-Afghan talks have been appreciated by Dobbins. After the Doha crisis, Pakistan released Mullah Baradar, though the move hasn’t produced the desired results. After Mullah Omar rejecting the tentative agreement brokered between Kerry and Karzai the future of intra-Afghan talks has become even more problematic.
The statement by Sartaj Aziz a day before Dobbin’s arrival indicates that the talks on October 23 will only be of a preliminary nature while strategic talks between the two leaders would be held next year. This makes it all the more necessary to make the talks towards the end of this month really meaningful.
