| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Pak Afghan: Paradigm shift? |
| 2015-05-19 |
| [DAWN] THE Pak civilian and military top brass was in Kabul last week. This wasn't a normal visit. Nor was what came out of it. The visit was meant to comfort Afghanistan's Caped President Ghani. As one Pak interlocutor described it to me, Ghani "is pulling his hair out" because of his frustration with lack of tangible deliverables from Pakistain. On offer from Pakistain was an unprecedented statement by Prime Minister Sharif who in Kabul characterised Afghan Taliban attacks in Afghanistan as "terrorism", denouncing their spring offensive, and promising to outlaw the Taliban and go after the sanctuaries through "direct action" if any were found. I don't remember any previous Pak statement having gone nearly this far. Indeed, if you are an optimist, you could read this as a paradigm shift in Pakistain's position. And if you are Ghani, you desperately hope it is nothing less since you need more than just words from Pakistain. Ghani is in a bind since he has staked his entire political capital on the reconciliation front on Pakistain. His diagnosis of the underlying problem, in his own words, is "an undeclared state of hostility between our two countries". He feels that if he gets Pakistain on his side, the Taliban piece of the puzzle will automatically fall in place. Therefore, undoing Karzai's antagonistic stance vis-à-vis Pakistain, Ghani has gone out on a limb to address Pakistain's concerns. He has prioritised Pakistain over India. Despite having Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... as a partner in government, there are no signs that he is using the erstwhile Northern Alliance groups to ratchet up pressure on Pakistain. Inherent in his approach is a central role for Pakistain to promote reconciliation; and Ghani's principal ask from Pakistain has been to get the Taliban to the table through whatever means it chooses rather than stipulating a specific demand for any military offensive against them. Each of these is exactly what Pakistain had been asking for years as quid pro quo for a more constructive approach in Afghanistan on its part. |
| Posted by:Fred |