Kabul makes a U-turn on its policy regarding Afghan Taliban
Last year deadly and unending terrorist attacks bled Afghanistan profusely and shocked the entire nation. Finding itself ill-equipped to ensure security of life to its citizens or eliminate the terrorist threat, Kabul government directed public anger towards Pakistan. An entire year was lost in mutual finger-pointing. Failing to persuade China and the US to put pressure on Pakistan to eliminate Taliban which Kabul claimed were attacking from inside Pakistan, President Ghani bid farewell to Quadrilateral Talks. He declared that with Taliban being terrorists his government would have no truck with them. Instead, Afghan security forces would take on the Taliban and other armed opposition groups directly. It was a desperate move undertaken on the false assumption that with the help of the skeletal US force Afghan security forces would stem the terrorist tide.
Saying goodbye to Quadrilateral Talks or blaming Pakistan failed to put an end to the horrific bloodletting. Continuing instability in Afghanistan combined with uncertainty about the days to come brought together Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia to consider how to jointly cope with the fallout of the situation in Afghanistan, particularly the rise of ISIS. When Afghanistan complained about being left out of the talks the three decided to invite Kabul also to join the group. There is a likelihood of Iran also joining the talks. Afghanistan – supported by four regional countries – has a better chance to achieve peace provided Kabul take a realistic appraisal of the situation.
Pakistan and Afghanistan need to remove the existing trust deficit. It is in Pakistan’s own interest to ensure that no terrorist network is allowed to use its territory as a launching pad. Pakistan needs to urgently clear the inaccessible areas along the Pak-Afghan border of terrorist remnants. Afghanistan should stop anti-Pakistan propaganda that can harm attempts at conciliation between the two countries. While Kabul prepares to interact with Taliban it has to realise that the Taliban are hard bargainers and any conciliation would have to be based on ground realities rather than wishes.