Daily Times

After nearly a decade-long hiatus, Russia and Pakistan extended gestures to improve relations in the mutual interest of both countries. Presently, the most important shared objective is to bring lasting peace to war-torn Afghanistan. Pakistan bore the burnt of supporting US adventures in that country, which resulted in the alienating of its own people.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, it was decided — following many rounds of negotiations between Washington and the Taliban — that the US would pull out its troops from Afghanistan by May 1. But the successor to the White House, President Joe Biden, announced a new date for troop withdrawal as September 11; marking the 20th anniversary of the historic 9/11 attacks.

Supporting his boss, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the threat had moved elsewhere from Afghanistan and that Washington needed to refocus resources on challenges such as China and the global pandemic. However, this is more of a face-saving argument since the alternative would be to concede defeat. This is even more necessary to counter the realisation that this two-decade-long war had not only inflicted death and destruction in Afghanistan but also cost the Americans $2.26 trillion, according to researchers at Brown University.

The reality on the ground is somewhat different. The militants are convinced that they have defeated the most modern and fearsome military force and that this accurate reflection of events never found space within the mainstream western media. And that the American people were intentionally kept misinformed about how the resisting forces consistently gained control over large swathes of the country, confining the writ of President Ashraf Ghani’s government to Kabul and its near surroundings.

Russia has offered to invest $8 billion in Pakistan. Not only that, Moscow has also offered to meet our defence requirements by way of a blank cheque. The time has now come to look east towards Russia and China

In many ways, they are right. For the gullible US public was indeed misinformed by the corporate-controlled media to believe that the Taliban were in disarray, democracy had been introduced in Afghanistan and the country’s women were now emancipated. A recent article co-authored by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad, appearing in the Asia Times, argues: “The US invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 was criminal. It was criminal because of the immense force used to demolish Afghanistan’s physical infrastructure and to break open its social bonds.” One wonders why the Americans and their allies wanted to alter Afghan culture? And did they achieve what they wanted? The answer must be an emphatic no.

Clearly, the Ghani government will not survive once the occupation forces vacate Afghanistan. And it’s most unlikely that any arrangement orchestrated by the US could keep him in power. The Afghan people will always consider him an American proxy, installed to look after the superpower’s regional interests. It’s instructive to remember the fate of Mohammed Najibullah who was left behind as a Soviet stooge in Kabul when Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. Butchered and dragged behind a vehicle, his body was nailed aloft a pole for days. Then the ferocious Afghan fighters were called mujahideen, a term that even Ronald Reagan reserved for them. Now they’re called Taliban. The bottom line is: armed resistance against foreign footprints on their land flows in Afghan blood. Call them mujahideen, Afghan fighters or Taliban. Take your pick, it doesn’t matter.

It’s however in Pakistan’s best interest that foreign troops pull out of Afghanistan; peace returns to the ravaged country; fair and free elections are held to enable elected leaders form a government in accordance with the aspirations of the Afghan people. The latter have, after all, already spilled enough blood. A popularly elected government would not allow Indian footprints on its soil, in stark contrast to the way in which the Ghani government extended hospitality to our eastern neighbour.

When peace returns to Afghanistan, Russia, China and Pakistan could form a regional economic bloc, especially in view of our strategic location. It’s an undeniable reality that China is an emerging economic power and the US a shrinking empire, if its glaring military defeat in the two-decade war in Afghanistan is anything to go by. We were roped into the Afghan wars because the rulers at the time wanted to perpetuate their power in the country by siding with the superpower. Let’s forget the past and look towards the future. We have already been coerced enough to ‘do more’.

Russia has offered to invest $8 billion in various sectors in Pakistan, ranging from hydro power projects, North-South Gas Pipeline project and revival of the Pakistan Steel Mills. Not only that, Moscow has also offered to meet our defence requirements. According to a foreign ministry official, the Kremlin has offered us a blank cheque and now it depends on us how best to make use of it. It’s time to look east towards Russia and China.

Containing China by supporting India represents the conventional wisdom of US regional policy. Both Washington and New Delhi are avowed opponents of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) as it will hugely promote Beijing’s commercial interests while providing access to our deep sea port: Gwadar.

Nonetheless, the CPEC route will serve as an alternative for the existing supply lines through the South China Sea from the Middle East and Europe to China. It will reduce the distance by about 7000-8000 miles, according to a research report. As a bonus, we will accrue immense economic benefits by facilitating CPEC besides generating badly needed employment opportunities for our workforce. For Pakistan, it’s a win-win.

The writer is a Lahore-based columnist and can be reached at pinecity@gmail.com