Daily Times

The setting up of a High Peace Council by the Karzai government last year to initiate talks with the Taliban was a welcome move. The visit of a 15-member delegation of the council led by former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani indicates that the Afghan government understands Pakistan’s standing in negotiations with the militants. The delegation is coming in the backdrop of the Taliban’s moves to convince international players to allow them to establish a base in a neutral host country with no track record of interference in Afghan affairs, and which enjoys the confidence of all parties. It would afford them an opportunity to transform from guerrilla fighters into politicians, who could conduct negotiations without any pressure. This makes sense, because all neighbouring countries of Afghanistan have supported one group or the other in the past. Pakistan’s acceptance and open support for the Taliban government in Afghanistan is well known. A distant neighbour Saudi Arabia at one time actively funded the Afghan jihad. India too is desirous of expanding its influence in the war-torn country. In an interview with The Telegraph, former Taliban spokesperson Mullah Zaeef has floated the names of UAE, Germany, Turkey or Japan. However, this idea is hard to implement. In the given scenario, where Obama is being held hostage by his generals who want to first weaken the Taliban before bringing them to the negotiating table, this course of action may not find resonance with Washington. But the US would do so at its own peril.

There are indications that the Taliban will sustain the pre-withdrawal period and may emerge stronger in 2014 when the NATO and US troops are slated to withdraw from Afghanistan than they are now because neither the foreign forces nor the Karzai government enjoy credibility. There is a continuing impasse in the battlefield, with the possibility that the guerrillas will compel the Afghan government to accelerate the peace process. Of all the possible solutions on offer right now, this appears to be the best one. The Afghan people want peace, and the Afghan government may have to swallow the bitter pill of sharing power with the Taliban to achieve this goal. We cannot say with certainty what will be the outcome of the meetings of the High Peace Council delegation in Pakistan, but the negotiating parties must consider that prolonging the war is in no one’s interest. *