The key to Afghan peace lies in Pakistan’s pocket

ANALYSIS / OPINION:

In a recent article published in the Washington Post under the headline “Pakistan is ready to be a partner for peace in Afghanistan”, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote that his country had made a mistake in choosing between Afghan factions in war. Now he says his administration wants to abandon this policy and work with the United States to restore peace in Afghanistan.

Any kind of goodwill gesture aimed at ending the continuing suffering of Afghan civilians must be adopted. However, it looks like a broken record. Pakistan has made similar promises in the past without taking any practical steps to back up its claims. In fact, Pakistan has joined forces with the Taliban in an undeclared war against the Afghan people.

Pakistani officials often speak both sides of their mouths. They are telling the world that they want to play a positive role in Afghanistan by bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government, but they have shown no sign of ending their support for the Taliban.

Taliban leaders are given a safe haven in Pakistan, their soldiers are treated in Pakistani hospitals and they are allowed to recruit soldiers from Islamic madrasas in Pakistan, who are then sent to Afghanistan to slaughter Afghan civilians, burn down schools , kill journalists, blow up bridges and power lines and undermine the lives of Afghans.

Despite these widely known facts, in a recent interview with Afghan media, TOLO news, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hussain Qureshi categorically denied that Taliban leaders live in his country.

As of this writing, I see no end to the deadly Taliban jihad, despite the signing of an agreement with the American invaders who are in the process of completing the withdrawal of their troops.

The Taliban have no more excuses for killing, and without Pakistani support, they could not even continue fighting the Afghan security forces. If they were not able to attack and withdraw to Pakistan, their reign of terror would already be over.

Their jihad is not a popular movement and lacks the support of the citizens. Recently, citizens in many parts of Afghanistan, tired of the Taliban’s atrocious actions, have taken up arms to fight alongside the security forces to repel the Taliban offensive.

Pakistan appears to be cracking down on its own Taliban faction (TTP) while calling on the Afghan government to share power with them. If Pakistan is to convince the Afghan people and the world that it truly admits its mistake in choosing sides in Afghanistan, it must put its words into practice.

Instead, the Taliban have stepped up their attacks on Afghan security forces, causing massive civilian casualties and internal displacement, and they are showing no signs of abating.

This is only possible with the support of Pakistan. Taliban leaders continue to take refuge in Pakistan, protected by the country’s security establishment, and they travel to Islamabad for instructions and advice on how to kill Afghan civilians.

Pakistani security services made a mistake in supporting the Taliban. One obvious reason is that there is no guarantee that the Pashtun nationalist Taliban would not turn their guns on Pakistan due to the contested Durand Line border with Afghanistan.

Moreover, Pakistan’s effort to engulf its western neighbor in constant agitation to counter the influence of its Indian rival on its border is not sustainable. If stoking conflict in a neighboring country was a better alternative than peace, trade and connectivity, every country would have done it.

Instead, Pakistan could actually achieve strategic goals in Afghanistan and outsmart India using its soft power: winning the hearts and minds of the Afghans by opening up borders, trade and connectivity. It’s an answer that might work. Supporting the Taliban is bad policy and only fuels ill will towards Pakistan.

Trust, but verify. If Mr. Khan sincerely wishes to work with the United States to bring peace to Afghanistan, he should order the dismantling of the Taliban command and control center in his country, instead of writing a non-binding promissory note under the form of an opinion piece in an American newspaper.

History shows that Afghanistan can never be controlled from the outside, but the key to peace in Afghanistan lies in Pakistan’s pocket. It is time to hold his own, which in effect says: In the past, Pakistan was wrong to choose between warring Afghan parties, but we have learned from that experience. We have no favorites and we will work with any government that enjoys the confidence of the Afghan people.

Wahab Raofi graduated from Kabul Law School and worked at various levels for the Ministry of Justice in his native Afghanistan. He immigrated to the United States, has a home in California, and worked with the NATO / International Security Assistance Force as an interpreter in Afghanistan.

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