Abdullah Abdullah’s visit
Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah’s visit to Pakistan has elicited unprecedented mutual bonhomie. At a seminar at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad on September 29, 2020 and interaction with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, Abdullah Abdullah stressed the centrality of Pakistan’s role for peace in Afghanistan. Both sides emphasised the need to learn from the past, often bitter and marred by mutual mistrust and acrimony, and turn over a new leaf in their ties. Abdullah Abdullah credited Pakistan with facilitating the US-Taliban agreement and the intra-Afghan talks in Doha. He argued for going beyond the usual stale rhetoric and shadowy conspiracy theories after so many troubled years that impeded cooperation because of frayed ties. He emphasised drawing the necessary lessons about gains, losses, threats, opportunities, especially missed win-win solutions, reduced tensions, promotion of moderation, increased regional connectivity, trade, transit, economic integration, business-to-business and people-to-people interactions. Echoing these sentiments, Shah Mahmood Qureshi called for the recognition of past mistakes and the adding of a new chapter to bilateral ties. He underlined that Pakistan had no favourites in Afghanistan, did not want to meddle in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, respected its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Pakistan, Qureshi went on, would support the Doha consensus and accept the will of the Afghan people. In his meeting with the PM, Abdullah Abdullah revealed that the Afghan leadership had directed its negotiating team to show flexibility in its talks with the Taliban so as to be able to seize this historic opportunity. He also pledged that Afghan soil would not be allowed in future to be used against any other country, a formulation that should bring some comfort to the US (reference 9/11) and Pakistan (regarding the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan based in Afghanistan).
Although Abdullah Abdullah and his hosts have articulated diplomatic positives, one cannot close one’s eyes to the other side of the picture. Pakistan has been stressing a reduction of violence in Afghanistan as a prerequisite for peace in response to a sharp spike in fighting during the three weeks so far of the intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha. Kabul wants the Taliban to declare a ceasefire, while the Taliban are linking any ceasefire to a political settlement. In the meantime, it seems, the Taliban have turned the military screws, perhaps in an effort to exert pressure on the Afghan government. As for Pakistan, it seems the fallacious notions of ‘strategic depth’ to counter the apprehended threat of ‘encirclement’ and a ‘two-front war’ have now been dispensed with. These notions in any case were rooted in paranoia about the Indian influence and role in troubled Afghanistan. After a long hiatus during the long Mujahideen struggle against the Afghan communists and the former Soviet Union, India revived its traditional friendship with Afghanistan through offering economic and financial aid. This economic aid gambit resurrected fears in Pakistan about India exploiting the troubled Afghanistan scenario against it or its interests. That scenario and the level of India’s investment in the relationship with Afghanistan have changed immeasurably by now, thereby easing Islamabad’s concerns about Indian influence. This development should logically give Pakistan the necessary confidence to back the peace process. Abdullah Abdullah and the Afghan government know that if they are to persuade the Taliban through talks to be open to Kabul’s demands in a reciprocal search for peace, the road to that goal lies through Islamabad because of the perceived influence Pakistan still holds over the insurgents. And Pakistan needs to be equally willing to meet the Afghan government’s concerns vis-à-vis some of the hardline attitudes of the Taliban so that our long suffering neighbour finds peace at last and Islamabad and Kabul open windows to let fresh air and sunshine in to improve their troubled relationship.
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