In a TV interview, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani emphasised the historic bonds between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the need for both countries to work together to fight terrorism. But, in the same breath, he asserted that state-to-state relations with Pakistan were a bigger challenge for Afghanistan than the existence of terror groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
President Ghani claimed that Pakistan provided sanctuaries to terrorists and also trained them. He also indulged in a similar diatribe against Pakistan on the eve of the Nato Summit in Brussels, when he said that Pakistan continued to distinguish between the good and bad Taliban.
The tone and tenor of his allegations were very similar to the US administration which has persistently held this view, notwithstanding its acknowledgement of the sacrifices made by Pakistan in the war on terror and the determination with which we have pursued Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan.
Based on Ghani’s perceptions on Pakistan allegedly playing a double game, he also presented a three-point formula which according to his estimation could help improve relations between the two countries and fight terrorism. He suggested that Pakistan must go after declared terrorist groups to win Afghanistan’s trust; we should act on the quadrilateral process regarding reconcilable and irreconcilable groups and those who reject peace talks should be evacuated from Pakistani soil.
Ghani seems to suggest unilateral action by Pakistan to remove the ambience of mistrust. Similar action by the Afghan government and the US is also needed to win the trust of the Pakistan government.
Pakistan also feels that the Afghan government has not taken any credible action against TTP operatives based on its soil as well as on the arrest of Mullah Fazlullah; they are using Afghanistan territory for planning and executing terrorist attacks within Pakistan.
The Afghan government has not responded positively to the border management proposition despite several interactions between the two countries at the highest level and between their intelligence outfits on intelligence sharing and commitment not to allow their respective territories to be used for attacks across the border. When Pakistan launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the country formally requested the Afghan government to take care of the border so that TTP operatives and their leadership could not escape to Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, that level of expected cooperation never materialised, with the result that many TTP leaders crossed over to Afghanistan and have been executing terrorist acts within Pakistan. Not only that, there have been reports that the Afghan intelligence DNS and Indian RAW have been supporting the TTP in carrying out terrorist violence in Pakistan. The TTP deputy leader, Latifullah Mehsud, who was caught by the Nato forces in Afghanistan in October 2013 while he was returning after a meeting with high-level Afghan functionaries confessed the nexus between the two intelligence agencies and their support to the TTP.
Unfortunately, this ambience of mutual mistrust has been the main stumbling block in forging credible cooperation between the two countries to fight terrorism – although Pakistan on its part has taken a number of steps to prove its sincerity of purpose and commitment to promote the process of reconciliation in Afghanistan and tackle the scourge of terrorism which has a profound bearing on peace and security in both the countries.
Pakistan rightly maintains that most of the groups fighting in Afghanistan are indigenous entities and there is a wrong perception that Pakistan is in any way helping them. Advisor to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has in an interview recently said that the US wanted Pakistan to act against the Afghan Taliban but that Pakistan could not fight Afghanistn’s war on its own soil. The Haqqanis are Afghans and Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been carried out indiscriminately against all terrorist outfits, dismantling their infrastructure.
Further, the repeatedly expressed resolve of the military leadership in Pakistan to make sure that nobody from the Pakistans side crosses over to Afghanistan to indulge in terrorist acts and the call to all the military commanders by COAS General Raheel Sharif to strictly follow the initiative are a ranting testimony of the determination and commitment of Pakistan to eliminate terrorism from both the countries. It is perhaps pertinent to point out that it was actually Pakistan that was the force behind the formation of the quadrilateral initiative that Ashraf Ghani has mentioned in his discourse.
There is no denying the fact that both Pakistan and Afghanistan need each other’s cooperation in fighting terrorism and restoring peace in both the countries whose destinies are inextricably linked. Nobody can change the geographical realities. Arguably, Pakistan needs peace in Afghanistan more than any other stakeholder in peace and security in the region. It has suffered the most in the war against terrorism and is convinced that there could be no peace unless there is peace in Afghanistan.
Under the circumstances, entertaining doubts about Pakistan’s sincerity in promoting the peace process is unfortunate and is not going to help. So long as this mistrust persists, no headway can be made in nudging forward the process of dialogue between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The US, despite its military might, has failed to subdue the Taliban.
Pakistan rightly believes that the solution to the Afghan conundrum lies in settlement through dialogue with both sides showing flexibility and a spirit of accommodation. Pakistan can only help bring the Taliban to the negotiating table provided the Afghan government and the US show the necessary change in their disposition towards the Taliban and are ready to offer something tangible to them to lure them to the negotiating table.
In my view the US can play a vital role in ending mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as having its own misgivings about Pakistan removed. This it can do through a trilateral interaction between the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan where mutual grievances, complaints and evidences are shared and an agreed mechanism evolved on effective border management, cooperation at the military level, sharing of intelligence and action against terrorists based on both sides of the border. This can coincide with renewed efforts by the quadrilateral forum within the agreed framework – unless the US has some hidden agenda other than peace.
The writer is a freelance contributor.
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