Daily Times

Since President Biden announced the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11th, 2021, the Pakistani military leadership has been highly engaged with the Pentagon to chalk out future strategies since the withdrawal of US forces not only poses a threat to Afghanistan but to the entire region.

Well-placed sources in Washington DC confided that, during recent military-to-military engagements, Pakistan briefed the US about the possible challenges and threats that could occur after the American exit. “Pakistan never wanted American forces to fully pull out from Afghanistan as America’s presence is key to stability in the war-torn country,” a highly-ranked Pakistani official in the US disclosed. He was of the view that leaving Afghanistan before any peace accord was inked between Kabul and the Taliban underscored both US helplessness and the hopelessness.

A member of the Pakistani diplomatic mission observed that American generals understood the sensitivity of the issue, but pointed out that the Biden administration was the sole actor in setting aside the concerns of Pakistani and other stakeholders. “I have been reading a few articles published in American media saying that Pakistan is going to get the benefits and be able to control the large groups of Taliban. I must say that these writers have no understanding of the ground realities of Afghanistan. Pakistan will suffer the most. ”

The consensus along the corridors of power is that Pakistan never wanted American forces to fully pull out from Afghanistan since US presence remains the key to stability in the war-torn country

“To be honest, there has always a lack of trust between Pakistan and the United States on this issue,” a former Pakistani ambassador to the US, told this scribe, while requesting anonymity. “Abandoning Afghanistan will be a huge mistake as it can rapidly become a hub of terrorist organisations,” he continued. “There is a big challenge ahead for Pakistan and if a comprehensive strategy is not in place, we may see the rise of groups like TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), Daesh (ISIS), and others. We have recently seen the violent protests of TLP (Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan) across all the major cities in Pakistan and, let me tell you, groups like TLP will get much stronger as their ideology matches with that of the Afghan Taliban.”

It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan is currently hosting millions of Afghan refugees and millions more are expected to cross over from the western border if the Taliban move into power once more. Additionally, there are many militants and terrorists who continue to enter Pakistan.

Former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, put it like this: “There are two important questions for Pakistan. The first is, once the US leaves Afghanistan, will it also ignore Pakistan as it did after the Soviet withdrawal? The second question is, whether, after withdrawing its troops, the US will continue to help the Kabul government and security forces to keep the Taliban at bay? The Taliban have shown no interest in peace and the Doha process only reinforced their belief that US eagerness to leave Afghanistan outweighed its concerns about the country’s future.” Haqqani is currently a senior fellow and director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute. He also believed that Pakistan was too deeply tied to the Taliban to stop supporting them.

Senior Pakistani-American journalist Faiz Rehman and head of Voice of America Urdu, believes that President Biden’s decision for a total withdrawal is absolute and not based on any conditions. “Even though there is substantive opposition to his decision within the beltway, the American people at large stand profoundly disinterested and fatigued with Afghanistan. Therefore, President Biden enjoys wider public support for this decision.” He also observed that Pakistan stands to lose in many ways. “First, in the immediate aftermath, it will lose any remaining leverage over American policy in the region and beyond. Secondly, the withdrawal is already being played up as a total American defeat by the Taliban and their sympathisers on both sides of the border. Against the backdrop of the countrywide shutdown by the TLP and the Pakistan Taliban’s unequivocal support to the group, an emboldened Taliban will now try to resurrect themselves in Pakistan.”

The writer is a Washington-based journalist and author. He has been covering international politics and foreign policy for the last 15 years