ISLAMABAD: Afghan peace process is a golden opportunity for Pakistan to play smart diplomacy with continuity as Pakistan has a lot to gain from this peace process. Pakistan should not interfere in intra-Afghan affairs, which is not in the interest of Pakistan; instead, Pakistan can help Afghanistan economically, and by facilitating Afghan refugees, which will help build confidence between the two countries.
This was the crux of experts’ deliberation at a special seminar titled “Afghan Peace Process: Implications and Stability”, organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Thursday.
Former foreign secretary Salman Bashir said that there is no attention paid towards social and economic development of Afghanis by the stakeholders. Afghan’s economic stability is more important amid the political process and peace process, which has been destroyed since long.
He said that Pakistan should also focus on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and expand it to Afghanistan which is in the interest of both Pakistan and China. He cautioned that if there is no consensus during the peace process until the middle of this year, US may withdraw its troops, which could result in a civil war and chaos in Afghanistan. However, there is a need of orderly US withdrawal from Afghanistan, he added.
Former ambassador Ayaz Wazir said that Pakistan should support Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace resolution and should pursue its own interest instead of meddling with intra-Afghan affairs. “Pakistan is not prepared to handle Afghanistan as we failed to handle our tribal areas,” he said. He said that today, the writ of the Afghan government is historic low and the Afghan Taliban have control over 70 per cent of the total territory, which has pushed the stakeholders, especially the USA, to talk and negotiate. As Afghanistan’s presidential elections are due in April this year, Afghanis, including Taliban, would never accept any political set-up similar to the incumbent government. Responding to a question, he said that India, during the peace process would remain quiet and wait for its opportunist time. He proposed that if both countries’ intelligence agencies signed a MoU of mutual cooperation on sharing cross-border intelligence then it would prove to be a real cornerstone for building confidence between Afghans and Pakistanis.
Senior analyst Imtiaz Gul said that the progress towards the recent Afghan peace process is a sea change in the last couple of weeks. He said that the effort for peace and stability in Afghanistan is a shared and regional responsibility of all stakeholders. Efforts should be made to take Iran and Russia on board, to make the negotiations successful and meaningful, he added. He also said that the Afghan Taliban should also guarantee that all stakeholders and minorities in Afghanistan would remain unharmed and there would be ceasefire till peace talks are concluded. He further said that there is a need to develop a comprehensive strategy and policy for Afghan refugees to counter the negative propaganda.
SDPI Board of Governor Chairman Shafqat Kakakhel said that every country, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, has a major stake in the peace and stability of Afghanistan. Stressing the need for mutual cooperation, he said that there is a tremendous potential for medical tourism between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Peshawar city can be a hub for medical tourism. “We should not think of strategic depth instead we should focus on economic depth, where we have around $5 billion trade potential,” he said, adding that Pakistan should not only contribute in the restoration of peace but also the sustainability of peace which would reinforce the unity among the two states.
SDPI Senior Advisor and Director Resilient Development Program Dr Shafqat Munir said that Afghanistan always remained a key diplomatic challenge for Pakistan on security and internal political front. As the Afghan peace process enters a new phase, it is hoped that the peace and stability would prevail in the region, he added.