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| Blame game must end |
| NN Khattak |
| Despite the fall of Taliban regime in Afghanistan in October 2001, the US-led allied forces have failed to uproot the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. The incidents of violence are on the rise inside Afghanistan. Since early 2005, the Taliban and their al-Qaeda aides have been reuniting and expanding their area of operations in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, which were their former stronghold.
The neglect of Afghanistan since 2002, has permitted the Taliban and other insurgents to regain much of the country. The US military Chief Admiral Michael Mullen warned that Taliban militants in Afghanistan have grown more violent and better organised in recent years and NATO/ISAF troops face “very difficult fighting” ahead. NATO commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal has also voiced concern about the growing instability in the west of the country. According to the statements by the US military and the NATO command, at least 46 ISAF troops, including 24 US, had been killed during this month so far.
The US, NATO and Afghan forces have not been able to control more than 30 per cent of Afghanistan with all the resources and gadgets at their disposal. The military operation in Afghanistan codenamed as “campaign footing”, has been the highest priority for the NATO forces. The Pentagon has decided to dispatch initially 15,000 additional troops to Afghanistan - a figure to be increased to 30,000 in the coming months. Nevertheless, each argument ends up at Pakistan hinting that, situation of Afghanistan can only be achieved through Pakistan’s positive contribution.
The Afghan Government accused that the remnants of Taliban regime have regrouped into a better-trained and better-led Taliban cadres operating from sanctuaries in Pakistan and are mounting deadly attacks in Afghanistan. However, Pakistan strongly denies Taliban and al-Qaeda infiltration into Afghanistan from the Pakistani side. It was in response to such persistent accusations that Pakistan proposed that the Pakistan-Afghanistan border be fenced to prevent cross-border infiltration of militants from both sides.
The disturbance in Afghanistan is not sponsored by Pakistan and they are not behind anything happening in Afghanistan. On the contrary, Afghanistan’s soil has been used again and again to cause trouble inside Pakistan. The violence in Balochistan is not internal poverty or lack of development but foreign interference in internal affairs of Balochistan through BLA.
The question is, what is the role of India and Afghanistan in Balochistan quagmire? There is strong evidence of Indian support in planning, commissioning and preparing acts of terrorism in Balochistan through Indian consulates based in Kandahar and Herat (report of Foreign Affairs, by Christine Fair of RAND Corporation). India has helped Iran to develop its Chabahar port to counter Gwadar port, so as to gain access to the vast Iranian gas reserves. India also wants to lay hands on natural riches of Central Asian countries through Afghanistan.
Pakistan is both victim and protagonist of the conflict in Afghanistan, its western and northern fringes devastated by a US-driven counter-insurgency campaign, its heartlands wracked by growing violence and deepening poverty. Pakistan is confronted with the phenomenon of Talibanisation which is a very alarming development. It is the Afghan gift to Pakistan.
Pakistan is suffering because of instability and violence in Afghanistan. Pakistan being a frontline state in the US-led war on terror, is committed to rid the region of Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists before the trouble “spills over” into the settled areas.
Pakistan has made positive and substantive contribution in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan Army has conducted more than 86 military operations against terrorists in Waziristan, and has killed 400-500 militants, including 200 foreigners. Despite security concerns on our eastern border, Pakistan has deployed more than 120,000 troops along the Pak-Afghan border to tighten the net against al-Qaeda.
The normalisation of Pak-Afghan relations is the hallmark to the stability and peace in the region. Major structural changes will be required in policies particularly on political, economic and security matters, if Pakistan and Afghanistan want to live like friendly neighbours. What’s needed is to extend sincere help and assistance to that war devastated country, on an emergent basis.
Pakistan has been hosting four million Afghan refugees in a spirit of brotherhood during the period of their hardship and suffering. After the US invasion of Afghanistan, many Afghan refugees crossed over into Pakistan as they had racial and ethnic affinities with tribes straddling the Durand Line. Pakistan is doing its best within its resources to help Afghanistan in its rebuilding efforts. Both countries agreed to cooperate on a pipeline project that would transport energy from Central Asia via Afghanistan into Pakistan. There is also talk of running a railroad through Afghanistan that would connect the republics of Central Asia with Pakistan and, through Pakistan’s ports, to overseas markets.
Similarly, there are ongoing discussions about bus links between Afghanistan and Pakistan. If Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to cooperate as friendly neighbours on the principle of “not allowing each other’s territory to destabilize the other”, this may become a major breakthrough in rejuvenating Pak-Afghan ties.
Pakistan has completed work on different projects in Afghanistan which include the delivery of relief items in the form of transportation of wheat, donation of food items, blankets, tents, clothing, and shoes, provision of cash assistance of 600 million to Government of Afghanistan, and payment to PASSCO (Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Supplies Corporation) for dispatching 5,000 tons of wheat to Afghanistan. In the education sector, Pakistan has donated 300,000 computers to students, printing of the text-books costing 40 million. Construction of a hostel with Rehman Baba School and faculty blocks in Kabul, Jalalabad, and Mazar-e-Sharif are in the pipeline. Pakistan has constructed 75km long Torkham-Jalalabad Road and internal roads in Jalalabad to promote Afghanistan’s economy and trade.
To bring the people of both countries closer, Pakistan has helped Kabul to construct Chaman-Kandahar Rail Link. This will help the people of Afghanistan to enter a new phase of industrialisation and development. Pakistan has provided 100 buses to Afghanistan to promote people-to-people contacts. The bus service between the cities of Pakistan and Afghanistan would enhance the cooperation between the people of both countries. Islamabad has provided TV transmission at Kandahar to promote cultural cooperation through media. This all is being done to improve better relation with Afghanistan, but Indian RAW agents prowling the area are creating wedge to achieve their own vested interests.
Historically Pakistan and Afghanistan have stood together in the times of trials and tribulation. Pakistan’s contribution and cooperation projects are an acknowledgment of shared historical and cultural heritage between two brotherly nations. Islamabad understands that peace and stability in Afghanistan’ is in Pakistan’s strategic interest and is fully committed to this goal. And Pakistan will continue to support Afghan brethren in national reconciliation and reconstruction of their country. On the other hand Kabul should also realise that close coordination with Pakistan are a key to development and durable peace in Afghanistan. Pakistan called for an end to the ‘blame game’ which is not in the interest of the region, as it will not help resolve the common goal of rooting out terrorism from the region. |
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