Breaking the ice
Good news from Afghanistan has sadly become a rare thing. Therefore the news of Ali Haider Gilani’s recovery from Ghazni province – after a joint raid by Afghan and US forces – is all the more welcome. No doubt the Afghan, and also the American, governments must be thanked for undertaking the operation and rescuing the former prime minister’s son. After Shahbaz Taseer’s release recently, hopes were raised that the Gilanis might be treated to similar good news. And, thanks to Kabul – which remains a friend despite renewed strains in the relationship – that moment has arrived.
It behoves Pakistan to now respond in kind. Any manner of acceptable reciprocity that would appease the Afghans should be offered. That would, of course, impinge upon the security paradigm that has halted progress time and again with the western neighbour, since the Afghans will no doubt ask for some manner of action against their Taliban still inside our borders. But we’ve been staring such questions in the face for a while now, especially since Zarb-e-Azb took off. And since we have already, publically, made the threat of expelling (at the very least) non-cooperative Taliban, perhaps it is about time some of our warnings came true.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Kabul is the key to Pakistan’s relations with NATO – and especially America – in the present setting. It was not really surprising that President Ghani’s recent outburst was quickly followed by more ‘do more’ from Washington. Our significance in the allied security matrix, for the time being, depends on our ability to control the Taliban card in the Afghan endgame. And since all principal parties either want the Taliban finished or negotiated with, Pakistan’s choices, too, are limited. Any opportunity of breaking the ice with Kabul should, therefore, be welcomed. Surely both governments have learnt enough from the war to understand that the enemy will feed off of one to harm the other unless both unite and eliminate all militants together. Hopefully, both will also display the maturity needed to achieve such a mechanism.