Daily Times

Russia has said that it is convening a conference of leading regional powers on Afghanistan and pushed again for talks with the Taliban. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed Moscow would host a meeting in mid-February with representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Iran and India during a press conference with his counterpart from Kabul Salahuddin Rabbani. “We are expecting that our partners will be represented at a high level. Most have confirmed their participation,” Lavrov said. Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s stance that “the Taliban must be included in a constructive dialogue” to help find a solution to halt worsening violence in the war-ravaged nation at a time the Islamic State group has expanded its presence.

Russia’s meeting does not include Western powers who have had troops in the country since the American-led invasion in 2001, but Lavrov said Moscow was hoping better ties with US President Donald Trump could jump-start cooperation over Afghanistan.

But the moot will not just about the significance of peace in Afghanistan, it will also bring to fore the importance of regional hegemony amid Russia’s re-entry into the issue as well as China’s political and economic ambitions as the success of its ‘One Belt One Road’ significantly depends upon the peace in the region. Also, the presence of both India and Pakistan in the talks is also of importance as both the countries are important stakeholders in Afghanistan. Other than discussing the peace process, Pakistan and India are also expected to discuss some bilateral issues as relations had severely deteriorated following the Uri attack amid protests in Kashmir last year. It is still unclear though who will represent the two arch-rivals.

The Afghan peace process has been going on for long, and almost all the stakeholders unanimously have concluded that stability is not possible without bringing the Taliban onboard. Pakistan and other stakeholders included have backed the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process through Heart of Asia conferences, but the previous meeting was marred by the tensions between Pakistan and India as the Afghan President had taken the occasion to criticise Pakistan for allegedly supporting the Taliban elements. Negotiations had also begun the mid-last year, but the news of the death of Mullah Omar and later the killing of Mullah Mansour in a drone attack from the US had derailed the entire process.

Although the US is deeply entrenched into the Afghan issue now, it is still an outsiderin terms of its geography, and its exit from the region without reaching a plausible settlement can send the country into chaos. The similar instance has been witnessed in the 1990s when the US had left following the Soviet’s defeat. Although the US-led NATO had signed a treaty with the Afghan government for keeping a certain number of troops in the country, the mercurial nature of President Trump cannot promise anything. That’s where the importance of the regional powers comes in as someone has to fill the vacuum and it better not be the Taliban and other
warlords again. *