Anyone who ‘understands’ the Afghan mess has been misinformed
Recent meetings between US and its ‘major non-NATO ally’ have degenerated into a stereotyped groove: forever asking questions of each other to which both already know the answers in advance, and little of real substance. The US obsession is the ‘do more’ refrain and alleged nexus with the Haqqani network. Pakistan in turn wants dismantling of the TTP camps in Afghanistan, from where devastating attacks are launched within it in liaison with RAW and NDS. The war in Afghanistan has deteriorated into a static, defensive mode, with inadequate US and poorly trained Afghan troops achieving little of strategic worth. Despite his many mini-wars within the US, President Trump’s gaze is finally turning on Afghanistan, and the fear in the Pakistani establishment is that it might turn into a glare, especially after the newfound dalliance with bear-hugging Narendra Modi.
First-hand information is being meticulously collected by the US, with Defence Secretary James Mattis wooing NATO countries, and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, visiting Kabul last week. Now comes the Pakistan visit of the delegation of the powerful Senate Armed Forces Committee, and its chairman, Senator John McCain, which met with the PMs Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, as well as the Pakistan Army Chief, in which the US side tried to calm local fears of a harder line over Afghanistan by the Trump administration. The US is well aware that any such step will only drive Pakistan further in the Chinese camp, and McCain reiterated the country’s pivotal role for peace in Afghanistan: ‘the (US/Pak) relationship is more important perhaps than ever before’, while with the COAS he appreciated the army’s contribution and sacrifices, and the need for Pak-Afghan security coordination. This was in response to the COAS’s highlighting of the Pak army’s contribution to regional peace and desire for enduring US/Pak cooperation as a ‘key factor’.
But these days, with the US’s right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, all is on the hazard till Trump speaks.
