ISLAMABAD – Referred to as an interminable and protracted war, the ongoingUS-led war in Afghanistan is becoming a stalemate with no end in sight inthe near or long term.

Since the violence and bloodshed have been the most common phenomenon in analready war-torn region, the war is perhaps an inevitable part of the lifebeing led by the Afghan people for the past decades, while any attempt tobring peace in the region is bound to meet rabid resistance owing to theconflict of interest among the concerned stakeholders who seem to be atodds with each other, following their own agenda or list of prioritiesunder the guise of peace-building efforts.

Despite all its military might, the US war in Afghanistan, which has seentwo phases (Operation Enduring Freedom 2001–2014 and Operation Freedom’sSentinel 2015 to the present), is yet to achieve a face-saving end, whileDonald Trump’s particular style of achieving results is making it even moreunlikely to bring the Afghan war to an acceptable end not only for theUnited States, but also for its key partners and other countries in theregion.

The US’s arm-twisting tactics against Pakistan to ‘do more’ are at itslimits and the recent aid suspension to its tested ally has not paid off.

The US State Department, for instance, has informed Congress that the USgovernment’s decision to suspend its security assistance to Pakistan has sofar failed to achieve its objective: forcing Islamabad to change itspolicies.

“There certainly hasn’t been any change that we would consider final andirrevocable. They have engaged in discussions with us, but there hasn’tbeen a sufficient amount of action yet that we would be lifting thatsuspension of security assistance.” say John Sullivan, U.S. DeputySecretary of State.

Commander US Central Command (Centcom) General Joseph L Votel has candidlyaccepted the fact that Pakistan happens to be an important US ally when itcomes to maintaining peace and security in South Asia and to ensure peacein the Afghan region, it is important that the strategy to bring theTaliban to the table be implemented speedily.

“We are very busily implementing our South Asia strategy, which is designedto bring the Taliban to the reconciliation table and end this very, verylengthy conflict (in Afghanistan),” says General Votel.

With its flawed approach towards Pakistan, the US seems to be short ofoptions at the moment. However, the initiation of the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) has emerged as a silver lining for the war-tornregion.

This is because China wants to extend the $57 billion CPEC to Afghanistan,and as per Afghan media, after the inclusion of Afghanistan, the name ofthe corridor will be changed into China-Afghanistan-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CAPEC), as part of China’s ambitious BRI (Belt and RoadInitiative) linking China with Asia, Europe and beyond.

This is the time the Afghan leadership should come forward and decide howlong a troubled Afghanistan can afford the ongoing war as well as theconsistent loss of innocent lives.

According to Yao Jing, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Kabul could becomepart of economic activities going on in the region and, for this reason,China is ready to play its role for resumption of a peace process forbringing stability in Afghanistan.

“The recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan are our concern and we areready to play a role for resumption of the peace process. Both Pakistan andChina are close neighbors and we desire a peaceful Afghanistan,” says YaoJing.

Since both Pakistan and Afghanistan have been uneasy neighbors ever sincethe creation of Pakistan in 1947, China has tried to promote talks betweenPakistan and Afghanistan.

However, the diplomatic ties between both the countries have been severed,as Afghanistan accuses Pakistan for supporting Taliban militants who havebeen fighting the U.S. forces to limit the influence of India inAfghanistan.

Speaking after the first trilateral meeting, which was held between theforeign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wang said theeconomic corridor connecting China, Pakistan and Afghanistan could benefitthe whole region and act as an impetus for development the war-torn regionneeds desperately.

He said Afghanistan has an urgent need to develop and improve people’slives and hopes it can join inter-connectivity initiatives.

“So China and Pakistan are willing to look at with Afghanistan, on thebasis of win-win, mutually beneficial principles, using an appropriatemeans to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan,”according to Yao Jing, Chinese Ambassador.

If actualized into action, the extension of CPEC to Afghanistan will servea long way in bringing about the much-needed stability in Afghanistan andwill positively impact the socio-economic condition of the Afghan nation.

However, it needs a paradigm shift the way the U.S. wants to see thingstaking place in the region, which seems unlikely at the moment, consideringthe ground realities. This is the time the Afghan leadership should comeforward and decide how long a troubled Afghanistan can afford the ongoingwar as well as the consistent loss of innocent lives.

In Afghanistan, it is likely that the road to peace will now passingthrough CPEC.

By: Syed Jawaid Iqbal