Af-Pak : Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
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ISLAMABAD : The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah talked about the terrorists’ sanctuaries in the neighborhood during his speech at the NATO Warsaw summit in Poland.
CEO Abdullah was pointing towards the safe havens used by the Taliban group and Haqqani terrorist network leadership councils in Pakistan.
“Looking back at recent history, some of us failed to grasp, the strategy that enabled the re emergence of militant cells that enjoyed sanctuaries and staging grounds in our neighborhood. But that strategy, in the face of Afghan resolve and international steadfastness, has failed and I am certain, it will never succeed,” Abdullah said.
He said Afghanistan is on the frontlines against various types of threats, including Taliban, Da’ish and Al-Qa’ida, and our partnership matters to our people as well as yours.
The remarks by Abdullah comes as the Afghan officials have long been criticizing Pakistan for allowing the Afghan militant groups to use its soil to plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.
The Afghan officials are saying that the Taliban group and Haqqani network leadership councils are based in Quetta and Peshawar cities of Pakistan from where they stage attacks against the Afghan forces and civilians in the country.
Pakistan Foreign Office reacted to the statement of Afghan Leadership as unfortunate and termed it as blame game by Afghan State authorities.
Pakistan has demanded from Afghan Government to eradicate the safe heavens of Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan TTP, the notorious group of militants responsible for the majority of the deadly terrorist incidences in Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in a blame game against each other of sheltering the terrorists in their territories.
Can Afghan Peace Process survive in presence of blame game ?
Is there light at the and of the tunnel?
Since the end of the "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan on December 31, 2014 Pakistan and Afghanistan relations have seen many ups and down.
From, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani saluting the martyrs of Pakistan Army in GHQ Yadgaar e Shuhadaa martyred in Global War On Terrorism GWOT, to Afghan National Army unprovoked firing at Torkham Border resulting in the martyrdom of Pakistan Army Major Changezi.
Cross border visits of both, civilians and Military leaderships of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the past two years even could not reduce the blame game in the Af-Pak region.
Pakistan sincere efforts in the Quadrilateral Contact Group ( QCG ) meetings to bring down Afghan Taliban to the negotiations had partially succeeded When Noshki Drone strike put an halt to the long desired peace process.
The level of mistrust between the two brotherly states has reached to a level where bilateral negotiations between the two directly would not materialise.
However the option of negotiations in presence of third party which is acceptable to both states cannot be ruled out.
Pakistan had intentionally included China in the QCG Peace process which was acceptable to Afghanistan as well. China has few strategic interests in Afghanistan which creates Chinese national interest in the stable Afghanistan.
Chinese Silk Route and Train Link with Iran passes through Afghanistan and the presence of ETIM in Afghanistan which is main source of terrorism in Xinkiang region of China is also a serious source of concern for the Chinese Policy Makers.
China has the economic and strategic potential to take Afghanistan away from the Indian clout which is a big source of mistrust and misunderstandings in the Af-Pak bilateral ties.
With China as a guarantor of Af-Pak peace talks there seems light at the end of the tunnel.
