While the US is anticipating conclusion of a peace agreement with the Taliban by September, followed by elections in which Taliban could participate as apolitical group, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani fears fading into oblivion. In his quest for continued relevance in future Afghan landscape, he visited Pakistan on 27-28 June. Long pending invitation by Prime Minister Imran Khan to President Ghani came as a handy aid for the visit. This was his third visit to Pakistan. President Ghani had earlier undertaken a bilateral visit to Pakistan in November 2014 and subsequently came to attend the ministerial conference of Heart of Asia/ Istanbul Process in Islamabad in December 2015. Then on, he kept putting off his visits to Pakistan on one pretext or the other. It followed the recently held first review session of the landmark Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS).
The wide-ranging talks between the two sides focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in diverse areas including political, trade, economic, security, peace and reconciliation, education and people-to-people exchanges. The two leaders discussed the whole gamut of relationship as well as current efforts seeking peaceful end to the lingering conflict in Afghanistan. They were later joined by their respective aides for a “frank and candid” discussions.
Leadership of the two countries agreed to bury the past misgivings and open a “new chapter of friendship and cooperation”. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense because of trust deficit between the two neighbours. Kabul for long has kept accusing Islamabad for supporting the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan has its own list of reservations that include Afghan government’s lack of action against groups involved in cross-border attacks.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office spoke positive about the future of ties between the two countries. It said the two leaders agreed to “open a new chapter of friendship and cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, based on mutual trust and harmony for the benefit of the two peoples and countries and for advancing the cause of peace, stability and prosperity in the region.” The prime minister affirmed that Pakistan remained committed to bring about a qualitative transformation in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations as part of his vision of a “peaceful neighbourhood.” The two leaders agreed on the importance of crafting a forward-looking vision of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. Afghan president sought PM Imran’s help for arranging direct talks between his administration and the Taliban.
PM Imran expressed Pakistan’s commitment to support the Afghan peace process as a shared responsibility. He underlined that an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process was the only viable option to end decades-long conflict in Afghanistan. And, in this regard, Pakistan supported a result-oriented intra-Afghan dialogue. The prime minister underscored Pakistan’s respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and its commitment to stand by the Afghan people at this crucial juncture. Pakistan remained committed to a peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan and wished to have stronger political, trade, economic, and people to people relations with Afghanistan. It was recognised that early completion of major energy connectivity projects such as Central Asia-South Asia (CASA 1000) electricity transmission line and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will bring long-term economic benefits to the countries involved. Further ways of strengthening trade, infrastructure and energy connectivity were explored. The two leaders agreed that enduring peace in Afghanistan would bring rich economic dividends to both the countries.
The crux of Ghani-Imran meeting was that there was realisation on part of both sides that there was no point sticking to the past. Both the countries agreed to look into the future and for this purpose discussed various steps leading to restoring mutual trust.
In a related development, Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to meet US President Donald Trump in September. Earlier, Trump had extended an invitation to Premier Imran. The US president had expressed his desire to meet the premier to discuss “important regional matters”. Imran-Trump meeting was linked by Trump with positive outcome of the ongoing American efforts seeking a peace deal in Afghanistan. Relations between Pakistan and the United States have remained tense during the Trump’s tenure. The US president publically accused Islamabad for ‘lies and deceit’ and also suspended security and other assistance. But at the same time he expressed his desire to work with the Imran-led government.
The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan are bound by fraternal ties reinforced by historical, religious, linguistic and cultural affinities. Pakistan is resolute towards finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict as Pakistan supports an Afghanistan that is at peace with itself. It is incumbent upon the leadership of the two countries to take practical steps to build mutual trust and confidence. The seventh round of talks between the Taliban and the US began on June 29 in Doha. These talks have centred on four issues: counter-terrorism, the foreign troop presence, an intra-Afghan dialogue, and a permanent ceasefire. The Taliban have insisted that foreign troops must leave, and refused to speak with the Afghan government in Kabul, whom they deem “puppets”.
As Taliban have, so far, refused to engage with the Afghan government directly, the Afghan government and other groups are worried that they may be excluded from the process with the US. They are looking for face saving; Pakistan also wants to avoid this scenario, as such a situation may lead to another cycle of a civil war. Against this backdrop, the visit of President Ashraf Ghani was quite significant, as Pakistan is looking to play a positive role in facilitating an all-inclusive dialogue among the Afghan groups.
President Donald Trump has, time and again voiced impatience with the Afghan war, believing there is no further reason to bear the cost in money or lives. During his first visit to Kabul since Washington launched peace talks, September last year, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 25 that he hopes for a peace deal with the Taliban “before September 1”, He said peace was Washington’s “highest priority”.
US officials have previously said they were hoping for a deal before the upcoming Afghan presidential elections, which have already been delayed twice and are now set for September. Pompeo said the US is nearly ready to conclude a “draft text” outlining Taliban promises never to allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for international terrorism again. “In light of this progress we’ve begun discussions with the Taliban regarding foreign military presence which today remains conditions-based,” he said. “And while we’ve made clear to the Taliban that we’re prepared to remove our forces, I want to be clear we’ve not yet agreed on a timeline to do so.”
The US and the Taliban have opened fresh negotiations on June 29. The US negotiator Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, voiced hope for progress in ending America’s longest war. “Based on my recent visits to Afghanistan and Qatar, I believe all sides want rapid progress,” Khalilzad wrote on Twitter. Negotiations are taking place in Qatar. Khalilzad is hoping to negotiate a deal under which the United States could withdraw troops first sent after the 9/11. In turn, the Taliban would guarantee that Afghanistan would not be used as a staging ground by extremists such as Al-Qaeda the main reason for the US invasion.
The Taliban have refused US appeals to end the violence to improve the atmosphere of talks; instead, Taliban are pressing on with their insurgency. Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada in a message for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, said, in early June, that the Taliban´s “resistance against the occupation is nearing the stage of success.” In another key sticking point, the Taliban are not ready to negotiate with the internationally recognized government in Kabul. A UN official recently confirmed that Germany and Qatar were working to organize an inter-Afghan meeting.
In this backdrop, Pakistan played host to prominent Afghan politicians at the tourist resort of Murree on June 22-23, under the caption “Lahore Process” a Track II initiative by a veteran diplomat, former Foreign Secretary Mr. Shamshad Ahmad. The Lahore Process has been set up to discuss different aspects of the Afghan peace process, which include bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan through connectivity, trade, economy and health. While others believe in a military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistan has all along been pursuing a politically negotiated settlement as the only way forward. It is gratifying to note that others have also reached the same conclusion now. Pakistan believes that the ultimate arbiters of future of Afghanistan are the Afghans themselves. While efforts of all stakeholders are important, only the Afghans could effectively lead the peace process in their own country.
Through this Process, Pakistan has sent a clear message: that it wanted to work with all Afghan groups for the larger objective of finding an otherwise elusive peace deal. A good gathering of 57 delegates including 18 prominent Afghan figures, mostly non-Pashtun, held a day-long conference in Bhurban organised by a Lahore-based think-tank as part of Track II initiative. In attendance were Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Karim Khalili, Atta Noor Mohammad, Fouzia Kofi, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Mohammad Younus Qanooni, Ismail Khan and former national security adviser and presidential candidate for the upcoming elections in Afghanistan Hanif Atmar. “The initiative enjoys the full backing of the Pakistani government that wants to provide a platform to all Afghan groups to sort out their differences,” said one of the organisers of the moot. “It was nothing short of a diplomatic coup,” he added. Even those Afghan politicians, who were sceptical of Pakistan’s role in the peace process, accepted our invitation, he added.
During his visit for the Track II gathering, former prime minister of Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar praised Pakistan’s role in the ongoing peace process. “Pakistan is a very important country and Islamabad could play a key role in bringing peace in Afghanistan and now they are doing it,” Hekmatyar told Anadolu Agency in Bhurban. Most of the Afghan politicians, who attended the conference, had earlier on, publicly accused Islamabad of being responsible for the mess Afghanistan is in, but at the conference, they had different thoughts and were positive about Pakistan’s role. “I praised Pakistan’s sincere efforts and I am sure they will continue its help to bring peace in our country,” the former prime minister said. The Americans are also praising Pakistan’s role in bringing Taliban on the negotiating table, he added. Hekmatyar arrived in Islamabad for the first time after his landmark deal with the Kabul government in 2016, which ended his 20 year long self-imposed exile. He had formed his political party Hezb-e-Islami in the mid-70s which is ideologically inspired by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami. “We welcome every country and individual who is taking any step for peace in Afghanistan. War always ends with peace and now war in our country will also end with peace,” Hekmatyar said. He demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and reiterated the need to allow the Afghan people decide their future. He asked the Afghan political and religious leaders to brainstorm for a system to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the country. He said no one should be allowed to use the Afghan soil to harm another state and urged the government to follow a balanced foreign policy. “The government should not interfere in conflict of others. They should not use one group against another,” He added.
The whole idea behind the Lahore Process was “to bring all Afghan groups on the [negotiating] table to decide the future of their country,” said the participants. The process would not stop there, as more meetings were being planned. Although the Taliban were not invited at the conference, they are likely to attend coming meetings. The initiative is another effort to help start intra-Afghan dialogue.
A lot of work was done behind the scenes to convince the Afghan groups to attend the meeting. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai was also willing to attend the conference but couldn’t make it due to a short notice. He is expected to visit some time later. The gathering of key Afghan groups in Pakistan is quite important in the context of ongoing Doha parleys.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that nobody in Pakistan subscribed to any notion of the so-called strategic depth in Afghanistan. “We must not let anyone resurrect this dead horse to advance their propagandistic aims or seek to sow the seeds of misunderstanding between us and our Afghan brethren,” Qureshi said while addressing inaugural session of Lahore Process. “For far too long, the vicious circle of mistrust, often fed into by our common enemies, has affected our relationship. The blame game has not helped either of us. It is indispensable to move away from this negative paradigm.” The minister further said that Afghanistan and Pakistan must not allow their respective territories to be used by anyone to the detriment of their interests. “We must also remain vigilant of the other forces that wish to create misunderstandings and divisions between us. We must not allow them to harm our brotherly relations. We both have the same objective of long-term peace and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region.” Qureshi reiterated that Pakistan wanted to see a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan. He added that advancing the cause of peace and stability in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s own national interest. “There are no two other countries in the region or the world that have so much in common than Pakistan and Afghanistan. Decades-long conflict had brought huge suffering to both the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan’s role in helping the Afghan nation reclaims its sovereignty after the foreign occupation in 1979 and hosting of millions of Afghan refugees for over four decades remains a testimony to the closeness as well as the sense of duty Pakistani people feel towards Afghan brothers and sisters. Pakistan’s perspective on Afghanistan is clear. Pakistan supports an Afghanistan that is at peace with itself and at peace with its neighbours; it respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. Pakistan remains firmly committed to a peaceful, stable, united, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s security continues to be deeply influenced by the security situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan wishes to see a friendly Afghanistan, governed by elected leadership, representative of the aspirations of all Afghans. Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally committed to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan for a long time. Pakistan is determined to build Pak-Afghan bilateral relationship on the principles of non-interference, mutual respect and common interest. In addition to playing its role in the peace process, Pakistan also remains committed to the Afghan reconstruction and development efforts. Pakistan will continue to deepen its engagement with all sections of the Afghan society and their representatives in further cementing these achievements, as per expectations of the people of Afghanistan.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan is hosting over 1.4 million Afghan refugees, making the country the second largest host of refugee population in the world. Some refugees have been living in Pakistan for three generations. They have established their business here, and some of them have even married locals and have been deeply integrated into the society. Yet, there is need for an all-encompassing strategy for dignified return of Afghan refugees.
Both sides must also remain vigilant of the other forces that wish to create misunderstandings and divisions. Both countries have the same objective of long-term peace and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region. If there is, at times, variance in approaches, it must not be construed as difference in objectives.
Pakistan stands ready to help Afghanistan through trade, investment, connectivity and capacity-building of the Afghan people. And is committed to enhancing people to people contacts and cultural exchanges. Pakistan wishes to work with Afghanistan, and the world community, to help create conditions that enable dignified, safe and voluntary return of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan.
The renewed multilateral push for Afghan peace, involving China, Russia, the EU and the GCC countries has created a new opportunity and every effort must be made to seize the moment. Despite President Trump’s contemptuous approach towards international treaties, the comity of nations cannot afford to miss this rare opportunity. This is a test of the wisdom and sagacity of everyone involved. Elements inimical to Pak-Afghan friendship will try their best to scuttle this process as was done in the past when Murree process was initiated. It is up to the collective international leadership to not to give eyes and ears to detractors but engage deeply to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for Afghanistan, this region and beyond.
