Coming closer

The withdrawal of most US troops from Afghanistan was always going to be a pivotal moment in the historically troubled relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many in Afghanistan feared that Pakistan would revert to propping up the Afghan Taliban as a way to ensure it retained influence in the country after the departure of foreign troops. The naysayers have been proven wrong. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani praised Pakistan for its contribution to the peace talks between the government and the Taliban, saying that devastating militant attacks in both countries had brought them closer together. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, in a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, confirmed that the two countries had never before enjoyed such cordial relations. Part of the reason for this thaw is the departure of former Afghan president Hamid Karzai who had a tendency to scapegoat Pakistan for every attack in his country. Ghani has shown himself to be a far more diplomatically astute leader who has improved relations with all his neighbours. Ties between the two countries were also improved by the launch of a military operation in North Waziristan which, Afghanistan has admitted, did much to disrupt the Haqqani Network.
For now, Pakistan has offered Afghanistan all the help it needs for peace talks with the Taliban, even though both the Taliban and the US have denied that any talks will be held in Qatar. For the Ghani government, negotiations have become a priority since the Taliban controls huge swathes of territory and is poised to make even more gains now that there is a significantly reduced foreign troop presence. For Pakistan a different kind of help is required from Afghanistan. TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is holed up in a border region of Afghanistan and army chief Raheel Sharif has paid multiple visits to Kabul to ensure his extradition. The Afghan army even launched operations in the area to locate TTP militants and was successful in capturing many who are believed to have planned the Peshawar APS attack. The priority for Afghanistan is reconciliation with the Afghan Taliban, while for us it is taking on the TTP. Our strategies and end goals may differ but it is for the respective governments to decide how to deal with their militant threats. Both countries need to just continue to be supportive for the sake of peace in the region.