The killing of the head of the Afghan high peace council and the attack on the Kabul embassy are being stated as the major factors that have stalled the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan. In reality, however, the prospects of peace were as dismal back then before the incidents as they are now. Peace as a concept cannot go hand in hand with violence, it needs to follow the latter to emerge as an end product of any conflict or war either transitory or extended.
The journey towards peace needs a clearly delineated and designed roadmap that ought to be adhered to, not just by a single group but by all the regional players seeking reconciliation in South Asia. This deliberate construction of a workable and agreeable future peace process is something that cannot materialize with the snap of either Karzai’s or Obama’s fingers. It would surely require a mutual coordination of all genuine stakeholders that includes the core group as a primary constituent.
The real hindrance to peace therefore is the souring of relationships between key nations. The fact that the core group initiative that includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US, has been put on hold serves as a much bigger blow to peace that was promised to transpire once the US troop withdrawal had begun. There is no sign of either peace or a definite withdrawal as the night raids in Afghanistan and drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas are still occurring with an enhanced rapidity, killing innocent men, women and children as if they were dummies and not real live human targets.
The lack of trust between Pakistan and the US and also between Pakistan and Afghanistan at this stage becomes detrimental as it threatens to alter the endgame scenario altogether. Any plan for peace would be doomed for disaster that bypasses any one of the key players in the game. Pakistan’s realisation that the decade-long military strategy employed against terrorism should be taken over by a reconciliatory approach if success is to be achieved, needs to be followed.
That the US has not emerged as a victor also endorses the dire need for investing in a policy of settlement. Instead of talking about the requirement for talking, the best way forward is to realise that a joint strategy be formulated in which interests of everyone ought to be considered and views accommodated instead of pursuing unilateral agendas. Despite the American’s reaching the conclusion that a political solution would be the fundamental game changer in Afghanistan, why isn’t it being done?
PROFESSOR KABIL KHAN
Peshawar
