Abandoning Kabul by world once again will be a mistake: Moeed

ISLAMABAD: National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that abandoning Afghanistan by the international community once again will be a mistake.

He was delivering the keynote address at an international webinar, organised by the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) here on the ‘Future of Afghanistan and Regional Stability: Challenges, Opportunities & Way Forward’.

Dr Moeed said the world needs to constructively engage Afghan Taliban in order to prevent governance collapse and avert another refugee crisis. He said Pakistan was coordinating with the world to have a stable and peaceful Afghanistan. He said after the Soviet-Afghan Mujahideen conflict in Afghanistan, the Western world committed catastrophic mistakes, including abandoning Afghanistan and sanctioning its “most allied of allies”, and Pakistan was the only country which bore the brunt of the situation in Afghanistan and the subsequent war on terror.

Dr Long Xingchun, president Chengdu Institute of World Affairs of China, said neighbouring countries would have to play the leading role in rebuilding Afghanistan and Pakistan was the most important country in that regard. He said that CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] should be extended to Afghanistan and Gwadar port could play a big role in strengthening Afghan economy.

Russian geopolitical expert Leonid Savin said that the recent takeover by Afghan Taliban had changed the regional political dynamics and that it would have an impact on global politics. He said Russia could recognise the new government if China recognises it first.

Prof Dr Fazlul-Hadi Wazeen of Salam University, Kabul, said the international community should not corner Afghanistan and give the new government a chance to rule while Afghan Taliban must also keep their promises, adopt a reconciliatory approach and refrain from the use of force.

Dr Syed Qandi Abbas of Quaid-e-Azam University said both Pakistan and Iran expect an inclusive permanent Afghan government in future. He said the current interim government was not inclusive, which had included only three non-Pashtun individuals, out of a total of 34. He said Iran wanted a greater accommodation of non-Pashtun people if a civil war was to be avoided in future in Afghanistan.

Air Marshal (retd) Farhat Hussain Khan, acting president of CASS, and former vice chief of the Air Staff of PAF, in his concluding address urged the world to give peace a chance in Afghanistan and the region, after trying everything else in the past.

He also stressed that the regional countries have a common interest in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan while regional connectivity projects such as CPEC could be the harbinger of economic wellbeing and prosperity for the whole region.

The webinar was moderated by Syed Muhammad Ali, director Nuclear & Strategic Affairs, Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies. He said that Afghanistan had remained a victim of conflicts and abandonment. Now the Afghan people deserve international help to rebuild a stable nation-state, in return for a security commitment by the new Afghan government that Afghanistan’s territory would not be used against any other country.