Pakistan’s role in U.S-Taliban agreement

Pakistan played a pivotal role in the historic US-Taliban agreement signed on Saturday, which paves the way for an intra-Afghan dialogue and peace in Afghanistan. The credit goes to the US and Taliban, and Russia and China for their efforts for peace, ending hostilities and by holding dialogue. Of course, credit goes to Pakistan government for having brought the Taliban on negotiating table that resulted in a peace deal. Last but not the least, COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa’s contribution to the agreement due to his contacts with Pentagon cannot be ignored. In fact, Bajwa Doctrine paved the way for the agreement by eliminating spectre of terrorism on this side of the border that compelled the US to have dialogue with the Taliban. Anyhow, both sides defied predictions by many analysts that such an agreement was impossible, as earlier efforts had proved futile.
In marathon negotiations between US officials and Taliban representatives in Doha, which began in 2018, the US had sought guarantees from the Taliban that in exchange for the withdrawal of foreign troops, Afghan soil would not be used for attacks on US interests. The deal came a week after an agreement for “reduction in violence” (RIV), the condition by Washington perhaps to see if Taliban leadership had control over its field commanders. There was also a flawed perception that Haqqani network was not on board, not realizing that Sirajuddin Haqqani was the deputy leader of the Taliban as well. In his op-ed article in the New York Times of 20th February captioned ‘What we, the Taliban, want’, Sirajuddin Haqqani conveyed an impression of a seasoned politician, rather statesman, as he tried to allay the fears of skeptics, and also assured that the Taliban would honor its commitments.
He also focused on the rights of women and committed to take along all sections of society. He stated: “Everyone has lost somebody they loved. Everyone is tired of war. I am convinced that the killing and the maiming must stop… The Taliban was ready to agree on a new, inclusive political system in which the voice of every Afghan is reflected and where no Afghan feels excluded”. He also stated that concerns about Afghanistan being used by foreign militant groups to threaten regional and world security are inflated. Indeed, the Taliban now controls or holds influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since 2001, which fact the US and Afghan government know.
According to US-Taliban joint statement, the United States will reduce the number of US military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and implement other commitments in the US-Taliban agreement within 135 days of the announcement of this joint declaration and the US-Taliban agreement. It added that the Afghan government will engage with the United Nations Security Council to remove Taliban members from sanctions list by May 29. The intra-Afghan talks are to begin on March 10 but no specific details have been given. Apart from Afghan government, there are many groups with different frame of mind and objectives, thus there will be difficulties during intra-Afghan dialogue. But since the US is committed to pay for Afghan army and police, it has leverage over the government and other groups. Anyhow, Pakistan’s position has been vindicated, as it always said that the matter should be resolved through dialogue.
It is being acknowledged by international community that without Pakistan’s cooperation, the US-Taliban agreement would not have been possible. Yet, one must not forget the efforts of Pakistan military in decimating the terrorists’ infrastructure and network in Pakistan. Furthermore, by raising a fence on Pak-Afghan border, movements of the militants to and fro Afghanistan were restricted remarkably. COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa due to his interaction with Pentagon must have played his role in convincing the US for need of dialogue to bring peace in Afghanistan. In January 2018, the then Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor had said General Bajwa wanted to make Pakistan a peaceful country and referenced the ‘doctrine’ as the army chief’s vision for the country. “The General Bajwa doctrine will bring a durable peace in the country,” he said, adding that cooperation between state institutions was vital in the war against terrorism.