Wajid Ali
Fortunately, the Afghan peace process has once again gained some momentum. Earlier, the Afghan National Unity Government ( NUG) decided to send a delegation to participate in the Afghan peace talks. However, the Taliban refused to meet with the Afghan NUG delegation in Jan’s scheduled round of talks in Jeddah. They did not meet Afghan delegation even in the First Round of Talks held in UAE in recent month. Afghan Taliban maintain that the issue being discussed in the talks relate directly to the US and hence they will not meet Afghan NUG delegation. In the first round of talks, they have only negotiated on the issues relating to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Talks also included progress on the release of prisoners, recognition of their political office, removing names of senior leaders from the UN sanctions list, and halt to air strikes and night raids.
Present Afghan setup has tried to harness all other Afghan forces through announcement of the establishment of the High Advisory Board for Peace and the peace negotiating team of the Government. However, various political parties and groups are trying to contact Taliban at their own as well. Experts believe that presently, Afghan Taliban are trying to negotiate the deal with the US government , from position of strength. Through their refusal to include Afghan NUG delegation, they are also undermining the status of the NUG. Further, they are also posturing to clear the doubts of other Afghan internal elites and war lords . Afghan NUG is in a fix and trying to negotiate even if embarrassed.
On the other hand, Pakistan has actively demonstrated its diplomatic outreach for making the process a success. Pakistan has facilitated first round of negotiations. In the aftermath, Pakistan’s FM has carried out Shuttle Diplomatic tour of Afghanistan, Iran, China and Russia, taking important regional players in confidence about the progress of the peace process. Pakistan is playing effective diplomatic role in facilitating the Afghan Peace process. During the visit of FM to Russia, he made clear that “Russian input and presence is essential for the advancement of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan”. He further added that ”We believe you have legitimate concerns on regional security, combating terrorism, particularly at a time when we see a growing footprint of Daesh (Islamic State group) in the region”. whereas the Russian FM ,Sergey Lavrov highlighted, “We have a common interest in creating conditions for the start of the political process as soon as possible. The process by which Afghani people would lead themselves and which would take into consideration the interests of all neighboring countries”. He added that Moscow tries not to impose “anything on anyone” when it comes to the Afghan peace process.
Peace chariot of Afghanistan is so far moving in right direction, if not derailed by the peace spoilers. An Active role is being played by Pakistan after the US has requested Pakistan for facilitating the peace process in Afghanistan. Pakistan has sincerely engaged all the regional countries and urged the Taliban to negotiate and search for a solution for peace in Afghanistan.Zalmay Khalilzad’s trip to the region for exploring peace in Afghanistan also seemed to be getting fruitful. He held meetings with top level Afghans including President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and number of ministers and other influential Afghans. This comes after Taliban in a statement on 15 Jan said the United States is not discussing troop withdrawal with the group and that the US is bringing “new issues” in talk’s agenda. Afghan Taliban warned that “they will have to suspend the peace talks if the situation prevails”. Earlier, the Afghan Taliban criticized the “pressure tactics” by the US on the group through other countries. Experts opine that all the stake holders need to carefully deal the peace process. Undue pressures may harm the process. Taliban will ultimately have to negotiate with the remaining Afghans. However, they want their primary demand of the US exit, be materialized first.
Experts believe that Pakistan needs to exercise extreme care and balance in meeting the demands for peace and the situation on ground. The patience of President Trump has run out due to fruitless US involvement in Afghanistan. Anti-Taliban forces in and outside Afghanistan are making all efforts to minimize Taliban gains. So far, the Taliban have proved their might on the battlefield. Present dialogue is termed by experts as more of a US necessity than the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan should carefully weigh its position keeping its long-term interests and avoid undue arm twisting by anyone.
