- …If talks are the only panacea for Afghan peace?
The three directly involved protagonists of the never-ending Afghan war, the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan, are of late seemingly on the same page regarding a negotiated settlement of the 17 years old conflict against the Taliban that has failed to produce a clear cut victory for either the US-Afghan forces or the battle-hardened rival militant group. A military solution is now sensibly discounted by the US, as neither an Iraq-like surge with a 100,000 strong force, now down to 15,000, nor massive air strikes, nor induction of specialised forces, have proved capable of delivering a decisive victory. Unfortunately, repeated vacillation within the trio itself, and rigid conditions set by the Taliban remain primary hurdles in the way of all the parties getting together across a peace table and working out the desperately desired negotiated settlement. And while the war drags needlessly and aimlessly on, and the ‘traditional’ rivals shoot it out, wasting their means and resources and wearying themselves, another savage enemy, the Islamic State, grows from strength to strength, hungrily eyeing the entire region.
The only real positive to emerge in recent months, but a pivotal one, is the close cooperation between the two neighbours under the umbrella of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS), which has kept them engaged and talking amicably despite continued acts of terrorism committed on each other’s territory and provocative statements made by ‘interested’ parties. The earlier eternal wall of distrust between them seems to be gradually dismantling. That the interaction is indeed meaningful and constructive was Sunday’s two-day visit to Kabul of a 28-member delegation led by Pakistan’s foreign secretary, which held talks with Afghan deputy foreign minister, followed by the inaugural joint meetings of the five institutionalized Working Groups, covering the entire gamut of relations and shared concerns, between their relevant ministries and departments. Frankly, of even deeper import are the increased contacts between the top military brass of the US and Pakistan, mutual talk of ‘tactical counter-terrorism cooperation’, CENTCOM General Joseph Votel’s ‘robust relationship’ with the Pakistani COAS, as well as enhanced civilian diplomacy. Backsliding from the peace path now will result in an unmitigated, irreversible catastrophe.
