The scenario in the Subcontinent has taken an
abrupt turn and it has happened within a month. While Pakistan’s ISI is working
ceaselessly to forge peace in the region like arranging talks between Kabul and
Afghan Taliban on the direction of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif,
India’s RAW is engaged in full-time sabotage activities and of late it has also
started pressuring UK authorities for not sharing terrorists’ financing trail
with Pakistan. It is just like sparing no opportunity to create hindrance and
hurdles on one pretext or the other with the ultimate objective of
destabilising the region so as to sabotage the peace process that has
materialized. The holding of these talks was an uphill task to get done,
especially with the background of infighting in Afghanistan that was deep-rooted
and every sane person realised that bringing the alienated factions on the
table was not an easy task at all; however, with the hard work done by ISI under
COAS’ directives, it was finally made doable. It came as big nudge to India and its
supporters that all the prominent factions of Afghan Taliban took part in the
talks.
It is hard for India
to digest this new development especially the joint working of US, China and Pakistan
to facilitate this peace process that will also go a long way in bringing about
stability inside both Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
The fact is that both US and China
realise this reality well that stability of Pakistan
as well as Afghanistan
is necessary to bring peace in the region. Till the convening of these talks,
vested interests inside the Indian camp and that of its cohorts have been
building up the impression that some groups of Afghan Taliban e.g. Haqqani
Group will not take part in the talks. This propaganda turned out to be
altogether false and forged.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s
military, long accused of harboring insurgents who fight its cause in Afghanistan and
beyond, proved by brokering landmark Taliban peace talks last week that it is
serious about tackling Islamist militancy in the region. The heads of the army
and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency were personally involved in
bringing about talks between the Afghan Taliban and Kabul
government on July 8 near Islamabad.
The negotiations were a tentative first step
toward ending war in neighboring Afghanistan that kills thousands of
people each year, as government forces fight Taliban insurgents whose hardliner
Islamist regime was toppled in 2001. The analysts are convinced that the Army
chief Gen. Raheel Sharif in particular has made Afghanistan’s peace process a “top
foreign policy goal”. For him, convincing Afghans to end the war is just
as imperative as fighting anti-Pakistani militants”.
China,
a key regional ally and investor, has also played a much needed role in Pakistan’s intervention, as Beijing
believes that the militants from its restive Xinjiang region receive training
in lawless areas of Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
Moreover, changes in leadership in Pakistan
and Afghanistan
also helped pave the way for these talks. In Pakistan, doubtlessly, all credit
goes to General Sharif who became army chief in 2013 and brought in Rizwan
Akhtar to take over the ISI next year. While in Afghanistan,
President Ashraf Ghani took office last September and ever since then he has
made improving relations with Pakistan,
in contrast to his predecessor Hamid Karzai.
The meeting of July 7 in the Pakistani hill
resort Murree was the first direct interaction between the Afghan government
and the Taliban in 14 years. Chinese and American officials also attended as
“observers.” While the first round of talk turned to be quite fruitful there
are different reports regarding venue of next round of dialogues between Afghan
Taliban and Afghan government. As it is feared that the Indians will not spare
any moment to spoil the peace efforts sincerely being made by Pakistan (to be
more accurate if we say by the Pakistan Army and the ISI), the venue is not
confirmed yet. However, the sources claim that the next round of dialogues
between Afghan Taliban and Afghan government could be held in Islamabad. Pakistan
hosted the meeting in a cautious step towards ending more than 13 years of war
in neighbouring Afghanistan,
where the Taliban have been trying to re-establish their regime, which was
toppled by a US-led military invasion in 2001.
The delegates met from around 10 pm on July 7,
after aftar, to 4am on July 8. The atmosphere at the meeting was “positive” and
“warm” and it ended with the sides sharing Sehr. When they sat down for the
Sehr meal, it was as if they were celebrating Eid. There was a sense of
celebration. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reached out to Islamabad
since taking office last year, and Pakistan has pledged to pressure
Taliban leaders, many of whom are believed to be hiding in the country, to come
to the negotiating table.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States
welcomed the talks, calling them “an important step toward advancing prospects
for a credible peace”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China backed
the process and was in touch with all sides.
A senior Pakistani official has said that the
country will host the second round of talks between the Afghan Government and
Taliban on July 31. The official rejected reports that the talks could be held
in China or Qatar, confirming that the talks will be held in
Pakistan.
It is strongly believed that some progress is expected in the second round of
talks between the Afghan Government and Taliban.
Some Western diplomats say Islamabad now seems serious about promoting
Afghan stability. According to them this was the most genuine push they saw
from Pakistan.
Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid sees “an institutional change” at the top of the Pakistan military favoring ending Afghanistan’s
war. As for India, Delhi felt it had been sidelined from the process because U.S. and
Chinese observers attended the Taliban talks. It will be hard for India to digest
this new development. She will create all sorts of hurdles to sabotage the
emerging development. In fact, India
wants instability in Afghanistan,
which favours its clandestine aims. But Pakistan
seeks stability in Afghanistan,
which is essential for both the countries including US, China, Iran and other regional states.
With this viewpoint, facilitation of dialogue between the Afghan rulers and the
Taliban is a positive development, but India is failed to digest this
bitter truth.
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