- Afghan peace settlement efforts at zenith
The concerted and intense diplomatic moves, especially in the last couple of months, for ending the 17-year long Afghan cauldron are unique, unprecedented and hopefully in earnest and meaningful this time round. Nowadays, top emissaries of the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan are usually away on whirlwind regional tours, if they are not otherwise engaged in a jaw-jaw with each other and Taliban representatives. Islamabad, Kabul, Doha and Abu Dhabi comprise the essential or favoured capitals facilitating these tough negotiations, on whose success rests the fate of millions of Afghans and regional stability.
US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is the moving spirit in connecting all the dots of the peace puzzle, and in his third major regional tour, is commencing a five days Pakistan visit from Monday for talks with civil and military leaders, along with deputy assistant to US president Lisa Curtis, with media reports also mentioning the possible presence of senior US diplomat Alice Wells, though not strictly for (overt) facilitation of the ‘intra-Afghan political settlement’. The recent individual lobbying in various capitals by US secretary of state, Pakistani foreign minister, Afghan national security adviser and President Ashraf Ghani’s special peace envoy, who visited Islamabad for four days from January 8, all reflect the stakeholder’s desperation to see 2019 as the year of peace, based on diversity, mutual respect and acceptance.
But the vexing hurdles and the ‘vested interests’ are formidable too. The US desires permanent military bases in Afghanistan (no doubt to universal dismay) and guarantees that the country will not turn into an exporter of terror, the Taliban stubbornly refuse to talk to ‘puppet’ Afghan government despite intense regional pressure or to agree to a ceasefire, many ordinary Afghans genuinely dread a return of oppressive Taliban rule and want talks only under Afghan government umbrella, and while Pakistan looks askance at a radical government next door, it is in its national interest to bring about the Taliban-US-Afghan government rapprochement by persistently coaxing the militant group to the negotiating table. It is now or never, because an out of the blue Syria-like troop withdrawal announcement by unpredictable president Trump without a peace accord in place can suck Pakistan deeper into the vacuum.
