The Afghan government should not have taken exception to the grant of protocol by our Foreign office to a high-powered delegation of Afghan Taliban leaders in Islamabad last week. Isn’t it a fact that those who are in the saddle in Kabul cannot hold a candle to them. More than half of their country is in the control of the Taliban. Realising the fact that the present Afghan rulers cannot run the show and the American marines won’t get a safe exit passage from Afghanistan unless an understanding is reached between them and the Taliban, Trump has asked Islamabad to help assist him in the matter.
The Americans should be wise enough now to admit that there is no point in fighting a losing battle in Afghanistan. The earlier they leave Afghanistan the better.
Karzai, Ashraf Ghani as well as Abdullah Abdullah would go down in the history of Afghanistan as unsuccessful Afghan rulers who had neither political acumen and sagacity nor farsightedness. Had they had an iota of these qualities their country would not have come to such a pass today. They will have to earn the goodwill of the Taliban if they are to stay in Afghanistan.
The present parleys between the various stakeholders in Afghanistan shouldn’t fail because that would mean a catastrophe for both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Political unrest and chaos is the last thing which is required in this area where CPEC is marching ahead towards its completion and where India is baring its teeth on the hapless Kashmiris.