New Delhi: Afghanistan, which has suffered violence in one form or the other for decades, finds itself on the cusp of a fresh challenge. It is heading for an election amid a series of terrorist attacks aimed at derailing the vote, and the prospect of peace remains distant in light of US President Donald Trump’s walkout from the so-called peace deal with the Taliban.
Amid all this, Kabul seems to have found an unlikely friend across its eastern border: Islamabad, which Afghanistan has for years accused of fomenting trouble on its territory.
Leading this bond are Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani: On Wednesday night, Ghani received a telephone call from Khan where both discussed ways to ensure peaceful elections in Kabul as well as the conclusion of peace talks with the Taliban.
Notably, at the instance of the Taliban, the Afghan government had been kept out of the Pakistan-brokered dialogue, which had appeared to be on the verge of conclusion when they collapsed this month.
In a tweet Thursday, Ghani said he was “pleased” to receive a phone call from Khan, and added that he had sought Pakistan’s “help” to “mitigate violence” in the upcoming polls.
As there’s precedence of Pakistan’s help in reduction of violence during past elections, I ask Pakistan to help mitigate violence in the next one. PM Khan promised help within their capacity.
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) September 19, 2019
The bonhomie marked a shift from the usual nature of Kabul and Islamabad’s interactions, which are marked by accusations over terrorist attacks on each other’s territory.
President Ghani’s key aide Amrullah Saleh, who is running for vice-president in the upcoming elections, is a vociferous critic of Pakistan.
He claims that the Taliban are continuing to kill people in his country because they are “backed” by Pakistan, and that their “handlers” are based at GHQ (Pakistan army headquarters) in Rawalpindi.
Backed by Pakistan, Talibn are the inventors of suicide bombings, sectarian violence & massacring of civilians in Afg just to weaken the State. Their denial of bombing of the wedding party last night doesn’t cleanse the stinking stain from their forehead. They are terrorists.
— Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 18, 2019
Taliban negotiators in Doha have gone back home to consult with their leaders in Quetta & their mentors & handlers in GHQ Rawalpindi. I can’t imagine my friends in @CIA not knowing what is going on. I can’t believe they don’t have Gordiviesky(s) in those places.What is the game?
— Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 13, 2019
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In a corner
In the call to Ghani, Khan conveyed his “sympathies and condolences” and condemned the two deadly terrorist attacks that claimed at least 48 lives on 17 September.
One of the attacks took place at an election rally for Ghani, where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden motorcycle into the entrance of the venue.
Both the attacks were claimed by the Taliban.
While Pakistan has always urged an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace dialogue with the Taliban, both Islamabad and Washington have given in to the Taliban’s demand and pushed the elected Afghan government in a corner.
The US was in talks with the terrorist outfit with an eye on pulling out all its troops from Afghanistan, where it’s currently engaged in its longest war ever.
“Everyone tends to give lip service to the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned idea. The US government has frequently used that line, even while accepting the Taliban’s demand to sideline the Afghan government from talks,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia programme and senior associate for South Asia at the Washington-based thinktank Wilson Centre.
Afghanistan is headed for its much-delayed presidential election on 28 September, when Ghani is hoping of a re-election. The Taliban, which doesn’t recognise the government, has promised to intensify violence in the run-up to dissuade people from voting.
Kabul has stated that once the elections are over, the process of an intra-Afghan dialogue will begin to integrate the Taliban within the Afghan society.
Amar Sinha, former Indian ambassador to Kabul, “Stage one was US-Taliban agreement on terms and phase two is intra-Afghan dialogue. Election should be transparent whenever held.”
Also Read: After US leaves Afghanistan, the Taliban will claim ideological victory over Western world
US calls for ‘transparent’ elections
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike R. Pompeo has called for a “credible and transparent presidential election” in Afghanistan.
“We expect Afghanistan’s institutions to take all necessary steps to ensure the election is transparent and credible to Afghan voters. We hold all candidates accountable to the code of conduct they signed,” he said in a statement. “We call on all parties, including the Taliban, to ensure Afghan voters can go to polling centres on election day without fear of intimidation, attack, or violence.”
In an interview to the BBC, the Taliban has said their “doors are open” for the US to resume the dialogue, which broke down on 8 September following the killing of a US soldier in Kabul.
The chief negotiator of the Taliban, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, said the only way to achieve peace in Afghanistan is through negotiations.
Speculation is rife that, with Robert O’Brien assuming office as the new national security adviser, US President Donald Trump might resume the dialogue. O’Brien was involved in judicial reform in Afghanistan in the last year of the Bush administration.
“I do think that the US will try to resume talks. It has plenty of reasons, both strategic, as there is a strong consensus within the US civilian and military leadership that the war can’t be won militarily and can only be ended with a negotiation, as well as political, because Trump wants a deal to give him political cover for a withdrawal,” Kugelman said.
For now, all eyes are on Khan’s two-day trip to Saudi Arabia — the third since he was sworn in last year — where he will be meeting Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. Khan is expected to discuss the fate of the Afghan peace process with him.
Also Read: Should the Afghan peace process really matter to India?
I simple pity the relationship that Afghan’s have with Pakistan and their repeated failure to recognise Pak army as the Taliban ,a country who boasts of influence over Taliban
(a radical group danger to world peace)is a virus in society and must either be eliminated or assimilated by force into this world.