Sarah Khan
After announcement of spring offensive by Afghan Taliban militants carried out one of the deadliest terror attack on the National Directorate of Security in Kabul, the country’s main spy agency. The attack is carried out at a time when Pakistan’s civilian and military government is putting in all efforts to bring Taliban on table for negotiations with Afghan government. Instead of recognizing Pakistan’s sincere efforts to bring peace in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani seems following Indian rhetoric of bashing Pakistan for terror acts by Afghan Taliban sponsored by Indian RAW to create turmoil on Pakistani and Afghan soil.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on in a rare joint session of the two houses of the Afghan parliament “I want to make it clear that we do not expect Pakistan to bring the Taliban to talks”. He added “We want the Pakistanis to fulfill their promises in the quadrilateral and take military action against those who have their centers in Pakistan and whose leaders are in Pakistan based on our security organizations, the intelligence of our international partners, and the words of Pakistan officials. If we do not see a change, despite our hopes and efforts for regional cooperation, we will be forced to turn to the UN Security Council and launch serious diplomatic efforts.” The harsh and undiplomatic language by President Ghani is reflection of Indian rhetoric against Pakistan. It was US/NATO forces and not Pakistan which has stayed in Afghanistan for more than fourteen years. They failed to defeat Taliban and withdrew their troops in December 2014. Since then Pakistan has carried out sincere efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan. But remnants of pro-India Karzai regime are throwing hurdles in the way to begin reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has helped the Afghan government in reconciliation by formulating quadrilateral group to streamline the efforts directed towards bringing peace in Afghanistan. In July 2015, Pakistan hosted a meeting between the Afghan Government and Afghan Taliban representatives in Murree along with the representatives from China and USA. The participants were duly mandated by their respective leadership and expressed their collective desire to bring peace to Afghanistan and the region. The second round of the talks, which was scheduled to be held in Pakistan on 31 July 2015 was postponed in view of the reports regarding the death of Mullah Omar and the leadership crisis among Taliban. Recently, BBC has reported that an Afghan Taliban delegation based in Qatar is in Karachi for direct talks with the Afghan government.
Pakistan condemns terrorism in all forms and does not differentiate between terrorist groups, adding that peace in Afghanistan is in best interest of Pakistan. Government of Pakistan is making serious efforts for peace in Afghanistan but the country alone is not responsible to bring Afghan Taliban on table for dialogue. President Ashraf Ghani must be reminded that Pakistan itself is the biggest victim of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil as thousands of its citizens and security forces personnel have laid down their lives in the war against terror. All major terror incidents including massacre of innocent students at Army Public School Peshawar was planned and perpetrated by Afghan Taliban duly sponsored by Indian RAW. Foregoing in view, President Ashraf Ghani must not tow the line of his predecessor President Karzai, instead he must cooperate with government of Pakistan by identifying those sabotaging peace process in order to pursue their vested interest in Afghanistan at the cost of security in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
