ISLAMABAD – In a latest development, the United States ruled out peacetalks with the Afghan Taliban following a wave of bloody large-scaleattacks on Kabul’s key infrastructure including a military academy,army battalion and the Hotel Pearl Continental which killed over 200 people.
Though the Afghan Taliban and Daesh have claimed responsibility for thedeadly attacks, the Afghan government is, directly and indirectly, blamingPakistan for providing sanctuaries and safe havens to the terrorists whoare conducting attacks in Kabul.
In his article “Is Kabul falling?” Andre Vitchek, a war correspondent whowas stationed in Kabul painted a gory picture of the Afghan capital, saying“Afghanistan is now facing mortal danger. It has to survive but it is notclear how it can manage.”
In his interview to a foreign journalist, dismayed Afghan President AshrafGhaniwarned that after the departure of US, the Afghan capital could fallwithin three months and the National Army might collapse in six months.
Former president Hamid Karzai took to the Twitter and accused a ‘foreigncountry’ of harbouring the terrorists to attack Kabul. He also asked for animmediate action against the alleged ‘country’.
The most blatant and glaring accusation came from Afghanistan’s Ambassadorand permanent representative at the United Nations, Mahmoud Saikal who onMonday accused Pakistan Army of supplying military equipment to LeT,Taliban and militants involved in Kabul hotel attack. He went on to claimthat the terrorists got their training in Pakistan’s province Balochistan.
Though Pakistan has vehemently denied the allegation, the observers believethat Pakistan is not capable enough of doing so, particularly at a timewhen Islamabad is striving to convince Washington to desist from resortingto military solution, and to find a negotiated settlement of the quagmire.
Afghanistan Times, in its editorial, urged the Trump administration to takedirect action and eliminate safe havens of terrorists enjoying sanctuariesin Pakistan. “Despite pressures on Pakistan asserted by the US PresidentDonald Trump’s administration, NATO and regional community, Pakistan-basedterrorist groups including the Taliban and the notorious Haqqani networkcontinue as instruments for terrorist and destructive activities acrossAfghanistan. These terrorist groups have been enjoying safe sanctuaries,training and fundraising centres in big cities of Pakistan including theTribal Region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.”
Almost all of the analysis and opinion pieces appearing in theInternational press repeat the same scathing criticism against Pakistan andcall for ‘punitive’ action against the country.
Back in Washington, US Senator Rand Paul was all set to introduce alegislation seeking a permanent ban of $2 billion civilian assistance toPakistan. The bill recommends redirecting the said funds, amounting to$1.28bn from the State Department and $852 million from the United StatesAgency for International Development to the Highway Trust Fund. Earlier,following President Trump’s January 1 tweet, the United States had alreadywithheld the Coalition Support Fund, military aid and civilian assistanceto Pakistan.
The question is, what would happen if the US, in collaboration with India,resorts to taking what it calls “punitive” military action againstPakistan? The world has not realised yet what a major catastrophe thiswould be
The international community, intelligentsia and defence analysts see amethod of “madness” behind the series of attacks in Kabul. Perceiving awell thought out plot to implicate Pakistan and justify incursions againstPakistan. They observe that “it is next to impossible that Daesh or Talibanwould carry out attack after attack and that too on sensitive targets aswell without any worthwhile resistance. How is it possible that the UnitedStates that has massive intelligence presence, both land and aerial, isunable to get information on such well-planned attacks.” “Rex Tillerson haswarned that those who support terrorists or offer sanctuaries to them willno longer be tolerated. ‘The statement is understandably aimed at Pakistanand should leave no doubt about what plans the United States has for theregion.”
Saner elements, however, advise the Trump administration to eschew the pathof force as this has miserably failed to produce any results in the past.
Laurel Miller in a recent article titled “The United States and Pakistan:Best Frenemies Forever?”, says “the United States needs a strategy inAfghanistan and policy towards Pakistan based on the best Pakistanibehaviour it can have, not the Pakistani behaviour it wants to have.” TheUnited States, it says, is once again mounting pressure on Pakistan to fallin line with the US policy in Afghanistan by ending the Afghan Taliban’senjoyment of safe haven. Unsurprisingly, Pakistan is once again pushingback.
Amid the mistrust, mutual recrimination, and stale narratives that haveincreasingly characterised the US-Pakistan relationship in recent years,there is one Pakistani argument that I have heard routinely from officialsand should be taken at face value: Pakistan does not intend to fight theAfghan war on Pakistani soil. “New political tensions and demands willcreate opportunities for Pakistan to build up other relationships in theregion at US expense.”
That’s why Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan underscoredover the weekend when he spoke about regional recalibration of thecountry’s foreign and security policy, including shifting towards Moscowand Beijing for military supplies.
Daily Times, in its January 30 editorial, said that many in Pakistan fearthat there may be method behind the American ‘madness’; with some arguingthat aid cuts represent the first step towards this end.” It argues thatthe latest American cash manoeuvrings are widely being seen by some assowing the seeds of economic chaos; that preferred first step in the pathto overseas regime change. “We are seeing possible and interlinkedendeavours to destabilise this country to the point of Afghanistan.”
US President Trump’s announcement of “No Talks” with the Taliban camedespite the on-going sincere efforts by China and Pakistan to bring theTaliban to the negotiating table and reach reconciliation.
Recently, China hosted the talks along with foreign ministers of Pakistanand Afghanistan. The Chinese leadership managed to bring warmness in theties of both the countries.
In a meeting of Taliban’s Qatar delegation, held in Islamabad earlier thismonth, Taliban had agreed to come to the table to initiate talks with theUS. However, they refused to hold talks with the Afghan government.
This obviously indicates that Trump’s abrupt decision, in the backdrop ofseries of attacks in Kabul, has buried the hopes of seeking the solutionthrough parleys. This also aims at sabotaging the honest efforts being madeby Pakistan. The five-member Qatar-Taliban delegation that includedShahabuddin Dilawar and Malawi Rasool, expressed its willingness to holddialogue and find ways for political settlement to end the on-goingviolence in the country. It also means that there is some ill will lying inthe midst. The situation is being deliberately taken to a point of noreturn.
The question is: what would happen if the US, in collaboration with India,resorts to taking what it calls “punitive” military action againstPakistan? This is likely to be catastrophic and the magnitude of it is notbeing realised. Afghan imbroglio is reaching a boiling point and the regionwill be on the verge of volcano if this “madness” is not stopped now.International community must take its cognizance as early as possible.
By: Farooq Ashraf