Cooperation is the key
There are few in Pakistan who rely on President Karzai’s statements. Karzai changes stands so quickly that one is never sure if tomorrow he would stand by a position taken today. Since the cancellation of US-Taliban talks in Qatar, he has alternately accused the US and Pakistan. The spurt of diplomatic activity between Afghanistan and Pakistan after the initiation of the military operation in North Waziristan had raised hopes of cooperation between the two armies. Nawaz Sharif sent a confidant to meet Karzai. Afghan representatives met military and political authorities. The meetings however failed to produce any concrete result.
Kabul has been pressing Pakistan for an operation in North Waziristan to expel the militants who avowedly launch cross border attacks. Haqqanis particularly have been accused by Afghanistan of major attacks inside Afghanistan. The ongoing operation provides an opportunity to the two countries to cleanse the region of the scourge of militancy. This is possible only through an understanding between the two sides. Unless both undertake a coordinated action to cleanse their respective tribal areas of all types of terrorists, peace cannot be restored on a permanent basis.
The arrival of a high level military and intelligence team from Afghanistan inspires hopes of a positive development vis-à-vis cooperation against terrorism. The Afghan army leadership hopefully realises that the Operation Zarb-e-Azb indicates Pakistan’s earnestness to indiscriminately cleanse the tribal region on this side of the Pak-Afghan border of all terrorist groups.
The two delegations have agreed to strengthen their border security cooperation mechanism. The issue of the terrorists’ sanctuaries in Kunar and Nuristan province of Afghanistan reportedly came under discussion. The matter is too serious to be ignored. The Afghan army needs to realise that it will have to bear the consequences of wrong political decisions for years to come. If the Afghan side fails to take action against terrorists like Fazlullah and Omar Khorasani, questions would be raised about its commitment to regional peace. What is more, the terrorists are likely to turn their guns against Kabul when directed by the Taliban.