The U.S. and the Afghan Taliban are ready to sign a historic peace deal on 29th February, which means to end America’s longest war, if the two sides succeed in reducing violence in Afghanistan over the next seven days. The US and Taliban agreed to a truce on Saturday, and it appears that the US wanted to confirm if the Taliban has control over its field commanders. If there is no violence during one week, there would be permanent truce, as agreement will be signed on February 29. Since, Mr. Khalilzad’s appointment as special envoy, nine rounds of talks with the Taliban in Doha and the UAE had been held. It has to be mentioned that to a large part, Pakistan has been instrumental in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table, as peace deal was not possible without Pakistan’s positive role for bringing peace in Afghanistan.
Last week, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is not seeking a permanent military presence in Afghanistan
after the Taliban said they are close to finalizing a peace agreement with the United States. The Afghan conflict has cost more than 2,300 American lives and hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars. As the war approaches its 18th year, 14,000 US troops are still in Afghanistan, and senior intelligence officials have repeatedly warned that the country remains fragile and could once again become a terrorist haven. Anyhow, Pakistan’s position has been vindicated, as it always said that the matter should be resolved through dialogue, as use of force would not bring peace in Afghanistan. The redeeming feature is that international community has admitted the fact without Pakistan’s positive role, the peace deal would not have been possible.
Last year, the United States, China and Russia had jointly welcomed Pakistan to a four-party consultation process that sought to end the 18-year-old war and decades of blood-letting in Afghanistan, said a joint statement issued in Washington. “China, Russia and the United States welcomed Pakistan joining the consultation and believe that Pakistan can play an important role in facilitating peace in Afghanistan,” said the statement issued by the US State Department last year. Having that said, the agreement would be signed after one week, as the Taliban leadership must have taken the field commanders on board. Secondly, influence of spoilers in the form of Indian influence over Afghanistan agencies has waned, especially when the northern alliance elements and President Ashraf Ghani are at loggerheads. Whereas Independent Election Commission has declared Ashraf Ghani as officially elected, Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory in the election.
European Union congratulated Dr. Ashraf Ghani after the Election Commission announced the election result. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah asked EU’s clarification on election stance. Gulbudin Hekmatyar Presidential candidate and leader of Hizb-e-Islami in a press conference rejected the result announced by Independent Election Commission declaring incumbent Ashraf Ghani country’s next president. He said: “We do not support the parallel government (as announced by Abdullah Abdullah), but we support an inclusive government where all see themselves represented including the Taliban.” Former president Hamid Karzai has also in a statement rejected the election results. He reminded that he had informed the people that circumstances in the country were not suitable for holding transparent and credible elections. “The election process fundamentally serves foreign agenda in Afghanistan, which is aimed at weakening the sovereignty and creating division among the Afghan people so that foreigners can implement their plan”, he added.
Abdul Rashid Dostum, first vice president spoke at a gathering at Jawzjan rejected the election results and said: “From the bottom of our heart, we are supporting the inclusive government of Abdullah Abdullah”. He called upon the people to be ready as governors would be appointed for the northern provinces of the country. When Northern Alliance, Hizb-e-Islami and others have rejected the result; and the situation is akin to 2014 presidential elections, when the US had played the role in formation of unity government. But now, the US can play its cards and push both Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani teams to agree to the measures that would give a due share to the Taliban that represents the majority population i.e. Pashtuns. The question is when there is so much polarization and also there is no government, with whom the inter-Afghan dialogue can take place?
