Daily Times

Pakistan played a pivotal role in the historic US-Taliban agreement signed on Saturday, which paves the way for an intra-Afghan dialogue and peace in Afghanistan. The US, Afghan government and Mullah Bradar of Taliban have appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for peace in Afghanistan. Anyhow, in marathon negotiations between US officials and Taliban representatives in Doha, which began in 2018, the US sought guarantees from the Taliban that in exchange for the withdrawal of foreign troops, Afghan soil would not be used for attacks on US interests. The deal came a week after an agreement for “reduction in violence” (RIV), the condition by Washington perhaps to see if Taliban leadership had control over its field commanders. There was also a flawed perception that Haqqani network was not on board, not realizing that Sirajuddin Haqqani was the deputy leader of the Taliban as well.

In his op-ed article in the New York Times of February 20 captioned ‘What we, the Taliban, want’, Sirajuddin Haqqani conveyed an impression of a seasoned politician, rather statesman, as he tried to allay the fears of skeptics, and also assured that the Taliban would honor its commitments, and would take along all sections of society. He stated: “Everyone has lost somebody they loved. Everyone is tired of war. I am convinced that the killing and the maiming must stop. The Taliban were ready to agree on a new, inclusive political system in which the voice of every Afghan is reflected and where no Afghan feels excluded”. He also stated that concerns about Afghanistan being used by foreign militant groups to threaten regional and world security are inflated. Indeed, the Taliban now control or hold influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since 2001, which is fact both the US and Afghan government know.

Pakistan’s cooperation, the US-Taliban agreement would not have been possible

According to US-Taliban joint statement, the US will reduce the number of military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and implement other commitments in the US-Taliban agreement within 135 days of the announcement of this joint declaration and the US-Taliban agreement. It added that the Afghan government will engage with the United Nations Security Council to remove Taliban members from sanctions list by May 29. The intra-Afghan talks are to begin on March 10 but no specific details have been given. Apart from Afghan government, there are many groups with different frame of mind and objectives, thus there will be difficulties during intra-Afghan dialogue. But since the US is committed to paying for Afghan army and police, it has leverage over the government and other groups.

Anyhow, Pakistan’s position has been vindicated, as it always said that the matter should be resolved through dialogue.

It is being acknowledged by many that without Pakistan’s cooperation, the US-Taliban agreement would not have been possible. Yet, one must not forget the efforts of Pakistan military in decimating the terrorists’ infrastructure and network in Pakistan. Furthermore, by raising a fence on Pak-Afghan border, movements of the militants to and fro Afghanistan were restricted remarkably. COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa due to his interaction with Pentagon must have played his role in convincing the US for need of dialogue to bring peace in Afghanistan. With the talks between the US and the Taliban, influence of spoilers in the form of Indian influence over Afghanistan agencies has waned, especially when the northern alliance elements and President Ashraf Ghani are at loggerheads. Whereas Independent Election Commission has declared Ashraf Ghani as officially elected, Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory in the election. After the Election Commission announced the election result, European Union congratulated Dr. Ashraf Ghani on his election as president.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah sought EU’s clarification on election stance. Gulbudin Hekmatyar, a presidential candidate and leader of Hizb-e-Islami, in a press conference rejected the result announced by Independent Election Commission declaring incumbent Ashraf Ghani country’s next president. He said: “We do not support the parallel government (as announced by Abdullah Abdullah), but we support an inclusive government where all see themselves represented, including the Taliban.” Former president Hamid Karzai has also in a statement rejected the election results. He reminded that he had informed the people that circumstances in the country were not suitable for holding transparent and credible elections. “The election process fundamentally serves foreign agenda in Afghanistan, which is aimed at weakening the sovereignty and creating division among the Afghan people so that foreigners can implement their plan”, he added.

Abdul Rashid Dostum, first vice president, spoke at a gathering at Jawzjan also rejected the election results. He called upon the people to be ready as governors would be appointed for the northern provinces of the country. When Northern Alliance, Hizb-e-Islami and others have rejected the result; and the situation is akin to 2014 presidential elections, the US will have to play the role in resolving the crisis. In these circumstance, the US can play its cards and push both Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani teams to agree to the measures that would give a due share to the Taliban that represents the majority population i.e. Pashtuns. However, the question is when there is so much polarization and also there are parallel governments, with whom the inter-Afghan dialogue can take place? Hence it is a tall order.

The writer is a freelance columnist