Daily Times

The clash between the Pakistan and Afghan forces at the Torkham border crossing, reportedly provoked by the latter, was yet another manifestation of the long-simmering tension between the two countries behind the veneer of off-and-on bonhomie. Hamid Karzai, throughout his rule, had been accusing Pakistan of fomenting acts of terrorism in Afghanistan, thus endorsing the US allegation of Pakistan playing a double game. Pakistan has also been complaining about the use of Afghan soil for attacks against Pakistan. The amity developed with Ashraf Ghani after he became the president of Afghanistan, and the cooperation stitched between the two countries in the wake of the Army Public School (APS) attack, has, more or less, transformed into open hostility.

Viewed in the backdrop of the killing of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and the efforts by some regional countries to isolate Pakistan, the incident is probably a premonition for things to come. It also indicates the perils that Pakistan is confronted with on the external front. It may be pertinent to point out that in the wake of the APS attack, the governments and intelligence outfits of Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on the need for effective border management. This was preceded by a similar agreement between the two countries on the sidelines of the Chequers Summit in the UK in February 2013, which was facilitated by the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

According to the DG ISPR Asim Bajwa, before the launch of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the Afghan government and the ISAF were formally informed, and were asked to manage the border so that no militant could flee to Afghanistan. But regrettably, that did not happen, and as a result, it is said that many militants crossed over to Afghanistan, who have continued to carry out terrorist activities against Pakistan from their hideouts in Afghanistan. The attacks on the Budaber base and Bacha Khan University were masterminded by militants hiding in Afghanistan.

Under the circumstances Pakistan had no choice but to take effective measures to check and regulate across-the-border movement with a view to deny terrorists free access to their planned targets. Pakistan, therefore, was very much within its rights to erect a fence at the border, and install a gate at Torkham. Pakistan has a 2,450 kilometre long porous border with Afghanistan, with 200 crossing points, out of which only eight are manned by a minimal number of security personnel. Torkham is the biggest crossing point, and hence it was imperative to have an effective mechanism in place to check the free movement of people on both sides. Pakistan duly notified the Afghan government before installing the gate. In view of continued acts of terrorism in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, border management is in the interest of both the countries, and perhaps a very credible measure to prevent cross-border terrorism, provided there is a sincerity of purpose and the will to do it.

It is gratifying to note that finally sanity prevailed and the two countries agreed to hold a dialogue to resolve the issue. What is, however, noteworthy is that the Afghan government has thought it fit to downgrade the level of talks by sending its deputy foreign minister. Prime Minister’s Adviser On Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had invited the Afghan foreign minister and the national security advisor for the dialogue. The talks held at Islamabad have remained inconclusive, although both sides have agreed to continue building contacts for border management. The issue is likely to be discussed between the foreign minister of Afghanistan and Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on June 23-24 in Tashkent.

The US refusal to mediate between Pakistan and Afghanistan to de-escalate the tension — which the US could have done by using its influence on Afghanistan — and its tolerance of the presence of Mullah Fazlullah on the Afghan soil, smack of the US’s duplicitous role. Many analysts including myself believe that the US does not want peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of its new “great game” to “contain China” in this region and beyond. The clandestine US-India nexus to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the reported creation of a special cell in the RAW, and the US efforts to assign greater role to India in Afghanistan are indicative of the long-term US designs in the region. Ultimately, the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan would be the greatest losers if those plans come through. The Afghan leadership needs to wake up to the emerging realities and trust Pakistan’s efforts to promote Afghan-led process of reconciliation in Afghanistan. They must realise that peace in Afghanistan was also imperative for peace and security in Pakistan, and therefore, Pakistan would be the last country to see Afghanistan consigned to instability forever.

The Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been a tremendous success as far as the goal of clearing North Waziristan of terrorists is concerned. However, the elimination of terrorism from Pakistan and the region would depend on cooperation from Afghanistan and the ISAF forces. The foregoing facts reflect the security challenges that Pakistan faces on the external front. The best answer to these challenges and lurking dangers lies in putting our own house in order and forging an impregnable national unity.

Pakistan has achieved remarkable economic stability as a result of the macro-economic reforms introduced by the government; the international lending and rating agencies have been repeatedly acknowledging Pakistan’s success story. The Transparency International in its successive reports for the last three years has corroborated that there is decline in corruption in Pakistan. The most recent development in this regard is the reclassification of Pakistan as an emerging market by the MSCI after eight years’ absence of Pakistan from the radar of the MSCI. The MSCI is a leading provider of international investment decision support tools.

These gains need to be consolidated ensuring political stability and continuation of the democratic set-up. Political forces that are trying to create chaos in the country in their quest to settle scores with the government using the issue of the Panama leaks need to revisit their approach. They are consciously or unconsciously trying to destabilise the country through threats of street agitation, whereas Pakistan needs peace and stability the most.

Fighting the external and internal enemies who pose an existentialist threat to the country, and dealing with the challenge of terrorism, it is incumbent upon political leaders to act in a responsible way. And instead of dividing the nation they should use their collective wisdom to steer the country out of troubled waters. They must stop looking up to the military establishment to find solutions to all the problems and woes that the country is afflicted with. The military has done its part by demolishing the terrorist infrastructure in North Waziristan and sleeper cells of terrorists and their supporters. Now the politicians must rise to the occasion and prove their worth. Instead of wasting time on things of the past, they must focus on improving governance in the future. They must resolve their political differences on the platform of parliament, and trust and wait for the judgment of the people in the coming elections.

The writer is a retired diplomat, a freelance columnist and a member of the visiting faculty of the Riphah Institute of Media Sciences, Riphah International University, Islamabad. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com