Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Defence analyst Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shoaib on Friday told Kabul to realise that peace and stability in Afghanistan was paramount for peace in the entire region.

“Rather than blaming Pakistan for its own failures, Afghan government must understand that peace and stability in both the countries are interconnected,” he told Daily Times in his exclusive comments over the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the neighbouring country.

The retired military strategist said it was unfortunate to note that while Afghan government had not even counted its dead that it started blaming Pakistan for the recent blast that hit diplomatic quarter in Kabul. He said it was not the policy of the Pakistan government to destabilise Afghanistan. “Terrorism knows no boundaries. If terrorists can hit Afghanistan with such freedom, they can also strike Pakistan. Already engaged in a massive fight against terrorism, Islamabad will never like to open a new front,” he argued.

“Pakistan’s military is already overstretched. We have a hostile neighbour on our eastern border. We will never like to inflict harm on our Afghan brothers whom we have hosted and with whom we have shared our bread and butter for 40 long years,” he added.

He said the Russian initiative to involve Pakistan and China in parlays in Moscow in December 2016 and including other regional players was cautiously welcomed by the international community. “Growing threat of Islamic State and deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan was clearly highlighted by the three countries. Deadly terrorist attacks have been witnessed on both sides of Pak-Afghan border, targeting innocent civilians and diplomats, coupled with a blame game and heated exchange of words between the two neighbours,” he added.

He said stereotyping and simplification of this blame game has not served the interests of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. “The major beneficiary in the bloodbath on both sides of Durand Line has been India. While the leadership in Pakistan remains engrossed in Panama controversy, India is gradually succeeding in developing an anti-Pakistan perception within Afghanistan,” he added.

It is believed that the National Unity Government painstakingly brokered by the US is a union in the name only while on the ground it has become a turf war between the Northern Alliance and the Pashtun powerbase in South East Afghanistan. The rapprochement with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar by Ashraf Ghani is an effort to woo the Pushtoon populace and strengthen his political position. At the same time, Dr Ghani is also desperate to get an approval from the US establishment for his second term in power after the upcoming elections.

Post ISAF, Afghanistan is reeling under pressure from the resurgent Taliban groups and Dr Ghani seems helpless. Afghanistan’s poor governance is a major factor to it whereas a divided polity and rampant corruption has accentuated the strategic imbalance in the entire system.

India, who never reconciled with prospects of a united and progressive Afghanistan, has played the game of supporting anti-Pakistan and anti-Pashtoon forces within Pakistan. Recent disclosures by arrest Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav clearly indicate Indian involvement in building a terrorist structure on both sides of Durand Line as well as the Pak-Iran border.

Indian frustration in Afghanistan can be gleaned from assertions by Dr Subhash Kapila, who runs the South Asian Analysis Group (SAAG). In a recent article titled ‘Afghanistan cannot be abandoned to China-Pakistan-Russia Troika in 2017’, Dr Kapila has tried to rubbish the Russian initiative of inviting Pakistan and China for a long-lasting solution of the Afghanistan conflict.

He also lambasted the US by asserting, “Afghanistan seems to have disappeared from the United States radar in the months to the run-up to the US presidential elections resulting in a void which the China-Pakistan-Russia Troika has exploited to US disadvantage. In 2017, the United States would be well-advised not to let the China-Pakistan-Russia trilateral muscle into what rightly deserves to be called United States strategic turf”.

In this situation, Pakistan also needs to increase its footprint of soft power by helping Afghan people and the government in areas like higher education, poverty alleviation and health. Pakistan also needs to take on board regional powers like Russia, China, Iran, Gulf States and Turkey for a lasting solution to Afghan imbroglio.