Pakistan faces a renewed daunting foreign policy challenge
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*ISLAMABAD - A big foreign policy challenge for Pakistan establishment and the foreign office after the sudden twist in the Afghan Taliban and US historic peace talks come to a halt.*
*Pakistan may come under renewed pressure from US administration to bring back the Afghan Taliban on negotiations table.*
The sudden move by US President Donald Trump to pull out of the talks with the Taliban will not only jeopardise the prospects of peace in Afghanistan, but also throw a new challenge for Pakistan at a time when its hands are already full dealing with other foreign policy issues.
In its official reaction to the sudden US move, the Foreign Office called on all sides for restraint and reminded them of the commitment to pursue peace.
“Pakistan has been facilitating the peace and reconciliation process in good faith and as a shared responsibility, and has encouraged all sides to remain engaged with sincerity and patience.”
Interaction with officials, who deal with the foreign policy matters, reveal that Pakistan knew that the road to peace would be bumpy but never expected talks to breakdown when peace accord was about to be signed by the US and the Taliban.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not authorised to speak to the media on the subject.
One official disclosed that Pakistan knew that Trump would be having a secret meeting with senior Taliban leaders at Camp David and was hopeful that the unprecedented meeting would pave the for the much-needed peace in Afghanistan.
Islamabad is now worried over the sudden breakdown in talks because it fears that the new situation may put more pressure on Pakistan to do more to convince the Taliban for a ceasefire.
