Zaheer-ud-Din Babar
Martin Luther King once said:
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
Peace in Afghanistan is still a long way off. In recent developments, President Trump has cancelled the peace talks with theTaliban. Mr. Trump tweeted that he was to meet the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and senior Taliban leaders on Sunday but cancelled the meeting at his Camp David after the Taliban claimed that they were behind the recent attack that claimed a US soldiers’ life. The current situation is undoubtedly an alarming one. On one side, the US and the Taliban claim to be close to achieving a peace deal, however the ground reality is that the battle is still raging fiercely. In light of the prevailing circumstances,many observersare openly stating that there is no chance for peace in Afghanistan after the US withdraws its forces.The Taliban are deluded in the sense that they believe that it is their fighting power that brought Washington to the negotiating table. During talks with the US Special representative Zalmay Khalilzad, the Taliban have tried to create an impression that Washington has lost the war in Afghanistan and that the Taliban have emerged as the winners. However, this is not the reality. The truth isthat 17 years of continuous war has proved that there are no certain winners in this battle nor can the battle be expected to end in the near future. In this prevailing situation, both parties have started to realize that the best possible outcome is only through give and take.
President Trump’s latest announcement is a severe blow to the peace negotiations. However, there is hope. Some informed circles say that it is quite possible that, after a few days, President Trump will once again give permission to resume peace talks with the Taliban representatives.
From South Asia’s point of view, peace is the key requirement for progress and stability in the region. CPEC, the much anticipated project in South Asia, can only be fruitful is there is stability in the region. If the countries do not recognize this fact, the region cannot and will not prosper.
A major opponent to the peace talks in Afghanistan is India. New Delhi openly critics the peace talks between the US and the Taliban. From New Delhi’s point of view, the Taliban are a pro Pakistani force and allowing them to conquer Afghanistan would be a huge blow to India’s security interests. Thus, India is doing everything in its power to ensure that the peace talks fail and that the Taliban never come to power in Afghanistan. It is quite possible that the recent attacks were sponsored by RAW.
After decades of war, Afghanistan has become a war zone with many international powers heavily influencing the region for their own interests. Washington, for example, is involved in the Afghanistan issue to prevent China from gaining a foothold in the region and thus expanding its influence.
For Pakistan, peace in Afghanistan will be a major relief. For years, Pakistan has been heavily damaged by terrorist attacks originating from the Afghan border. Pakistan, however, has fought back, recently cleansing its own side of the border of terrorist and launching major operations against them. It is for this reason that many international powers congratulate Pakistan as a major support in stabilizing the region.
