Daily Times

Is Afghanistan still the
dumping ground of empires is a question that haunts many thinking minds. Nevertheless, the empires of this age are all set to help Afghanistan come out of the morass of economic insufficiency and social torpour, which are the hallmarks of today’s Afghanistan whether it is engaged in a war or not.
Last week, on Thursday, representatives of more than 30 nations and 40 international organisations assembled in Kabul to convene a two-day Regional Economic Cooperation Conference (RECCA) to find ways of rebuilding the country worn out by about 35 years of continual war since 1979 when the former Soviet Union sent its forces to Afghanistan. RECCA discussed policy priorities, inter-regional trade, harmonisation of customs and border routines, and market expansion. At the heart was the Afghan-led solution. It was the sixth conference held by RECCA but it was the first under incumbent President Ashraf Ghani. The Afghanistan of today is a liability on donors for its survival.
The bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan went sour when both countries blamed each other for failing to stop the Taliban across the porous border dividing them internationally. Pakistan blamed Afghanistan for its inadequate action against the Taliban who crossed over and caused the massacre in Pakistan, as happened in a school in Peshawar in December last year. On the other hand, Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for its inadequate action against the Taliban belonging to the Haqqani network that crossed over and inflicted atrocities on the Kabul government, as incidents of suicide bombings and explosions took place in Kabul recently in a spate devouring the lives of both locals and foreigners. Both countries descended into a phase of incrimination.
In the context of bilateral relations, one thing is obvious: there is more pressure on Pakistan to reconcile its differences with Afghanistan than vice versa. Pakistan is considered a meddlesome neighbour that is ever ready to do machinations in Afghanistan to protect its interests. On the question of the Haqqani network, Pakistan is under severe international pressure. Last Friday, when Sartaj Aziz, the national security advisor for foreign affairs in Pakistan, met Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of RECCA, the former assured the latter of the resolve of Pakistan expressed through the ongoing Zarb-e-Azb military operation in North Waziristan to deal with all kinds of Taliban, including those that belonged to the Haqqani network. Reportedly, Sartaj Aziz showed a dossier to Ashraf Ghani citing the success of the military operation in dismantling the Haqqani network in North Waziristan. In this way, bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been reduced to whether or not the Haqqani network is undone. Pakistan is deemed a mendacious partner. The pressure of culpability on Pakistan is so immense that Pakistan has decided to keep its troops along the Pak-Afghan border (in the area of South and North Waziristan) till 2019.
Last year, when Ashraf Ghani took charge, he made it his priority to talk to the Taliban. Ashraf Ghani is also ready to rearrange his cabinet to include certain Taliban representatives in it, besides making a few Taliban commanders provincial governors in the South of Afghanistan. The non-elected status of Taliban representatives does not offer much leeway to Ashraf Ghani to appease them till the next general elections.
The Peshawar school massacre perturbed Pakistan. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, visited Kabul immediately to seek the help of the Kabul government against the perpetrators of the carnage operating from Afghanistan. In February this year, the COAS visited Kabul again to inform the Afghan authorities of the willingness of the Taliban to open a route for talks with the Kabul government. In this way, Pakistan itself assured the Kabul government of its influence on the Taliban active in Afghanistan. In July, talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban started but were stalled owing to the news of the death of Mullah Mohammad Omar, head of the Taliban. This followed a struggle for ascendency to the top slot within Taliban ranks and a renewed effort to attack Kabul. The Taliban perhaps understand the symbolic importance of their attacks on Kabul to seek attention. The Kabul government became perturbed over the fresh rash of violence and accused Pakistan of failing to halt it.
The Kabul government is demanding action against the Taliban of the Haqqani network. This idea is backed by the US, which has made the release of $ 300 million military aid to Pakistan under the coalition support fund conditional upon taking action against the Haqqani network. Pakistan is responding by making efforts to renew the talks’ process between the Taliban and the Kabul government, as Pakistan considers the demand of launching a specifically named military operation against the Haqqani network a tangential one. No one is listening to Pakistan on how Operation Zarb-e-Azb has already damaged the Haqqani network significantly and that there has been left no need to take action against it.
It seems that in bilateral relations between both countries trust is the casualty. Both countries have sunk into a miasma of bitterness and despair. In the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre, Pakistan cannot afford to pamper the Taliban; it becomes presumptuous on the part of the Kabul government to blame Pakistan for all its ills without realising the fact that it takes years of painstaking practice and patience to develop trust and that the blame game entails far reaching consequences for both the countries. It seems that there is an army of critics in Kabul that keeps on panning every effort by Pakistan without realising the fact that, for Afghanistan’s rehabilitation, Pakistan is still more important than the rest of the members of RECCA. The solution lies in the revival of the stalled talks.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com