Not that useful
In the backdrop of escalation in the terrorist attacks against the US-backed Afghan government in the recent months as part of the summer offensive by the Taliban and a suicide car bomb attack on foreign forces in Kabul on Saturday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly accused Pakistan of waging an undeclared war against Afghanistan by allowing terrorists to use its soil for planning and executing terrorists attack within that country, notwithstanding the fact that Pakistan publicly condemned the spring offensive by Taliban as terrorism and has invariably denounced such attacks as and when they have happened besides showing solidarity with Afghanistan and expressing its unflinching willingness to work together with her to tackle the scourge of terrorism.
This indeed is a tragic turn around in the relations between the two countries, who after the exit of Karzai regime had successfully removed the mutual mistrust and seemed well poised to defeat terrorism through their cooperative efforts and nudging the process of reconciliation in Afghanistan. Reportedly, the US is also wary of these attacks and more or less has started going along with the position taken by the Afghan government. The Wall Street Journal has quoted a senior officer of the Obama Administration as having told the newspaper that US has warned Pakistan that it would withhold $300 million military assistance if Islamabad did not do more to crack down on militants targeting US and Afghan troops, a reference to the Coalitions Support Fund (CSF). Reportedly the US officials have told their Pakistani counterparts that their operations have not sufficiently damaged the Haqqani Network to qualify for the $300 million under CSF. In the meantime spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, has confirmed that Islamabad and Washington were engaged in consultations on various issues, including the CSF.
The relapse into the ‘do more’ rhetoric by US, notwithstanding the fact that Pakistani security forces have dismantled the terrorist infrastructure in North Waziristan, particularly at Miranshah, the headquarter of the Haqqani Network and the jihadist stronghold Mir Ali, is really very regrettable. Pakistan security forces are carrying out an indiscriminate military campaign against all the terrorist outfits and about ninety percent of the area has been cleared killing 2,500 terrorists. The possibility of the presence of some remnants of the terrorist in the border region and the areas still to be cleared and reclaimed by the security forces cannot be ruled out.
The Pakistani troops are still battling to clear the area. Air strikes carried out in Shawal valley of North Waziristan Agency and Khyber tribal area on Monday 17th August killed 65 terrorists. This was followed by launching of a ground offensive in the Shawal valley as according to the military sources most of the militants after their expulsion from residential areas such as Mir Ali and Miranshah had shifted to the area. Pakistan security forces are not yet finished with their task. Pakistan and Afghanistan have a long porous border and it is quite convenient for the terrorists to take refuge in that difficult terrain. For a decisive battle against the terrorists Pakistan and Afghanistan will have to pool their resources and work together in ambience of mutual trust rather than indulging in a blame game which might scuttle all the gains made so far in improving relations between the two countries.
The US also needs to see things in their proper perspective. If it has not been able to achieve military victory against terrorists in Afghanistan with all its military might and the latest war technology at its disposal and despite spending trillions of dollars in more than a decade, how can it expect Pakistan security forces to eliminate the terrorist within such a short span of time on its own? Instead of pressurising Pakistan the way it contemplates to do, it should evaluate the situation realistically and play due role in bringing the two countries close to each other and strengthening the bonhomie that characterised relations between the two countries in the recent past.
President Ashraf Ghani has said that his government would not welcome the facilitating role of any other country and would like to talk to the Taliban directly. That reflects his frustration because it was not the workable solution as the Taliban have already rejected further engagement with the Afghan regime and vowed to continue their jihad, in the backdrop of the controversy over succession of Mullah Omar. Mullah Mansoor whose leadership has been challenged by forces within the Taliban movement and who was a staunch supporter of dialogue for reconciliation perforce had to revert to the old stance of the Taliban in a bid to win the allegiance of the recalcitrant elements.
Ashraf Ghani would therefore find it very difficult to engage the Taliban directly or for that matter even through an intermediary in the near future, at least till the time the leadership issue is amicably settled by the Taliban. My considered view is that bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table and moving towards an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led solution to the Afghan conundrum would not be possible without Pakistan and China who were instrumental to the first ever face off between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Murree recently, helping to bring it about.
The Afghan President and US might have their own compulsions to do and say what they are saying but it would not help the cause of peace in Afghanistan. Doubting Pakistan’s sincerity and determination in fighting terrorism and promoting reconciliation in Afghanistan is probably the most preposterous thinking which belies logic and the ground realities. Pakistan has been the biggest loser in the fight against terrorism. It therefore has the biggest stake in getting rid of the menace.
Peace in Afghanistan is an inescapable imperative for peace in Pakistan. Why would therefore Pakistan support or encourage terrorist activities in Afghanistan or provide safe heavens to any terrorist outfit? The success of the CPEC, which is being billed as the game changer for both China and Pakistan as well as the region, depends largely on restoration of peace and tranquility both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. With so much at stake Pakistan would be the last country to play a double game as suspected and alleged by Afghanistan and the US.
Perhaps a formal interaction between the heads of the government, military leaders and security agencies of the two countries and the US military commander in Afghanistan is needed at this juncture to remove the misgivings and adoption of an effective strategy to deal with the terrorists as well as finding the way to revive the stalled talks between Taliban and the Afghan government.
