ISLAMABAD: The Afghan peace process is a golden opportunity for Pakistan to play smart diplomacy with continuity as Pakistan has a lot to gain from this peace process, said experts at a special seminar titled ‘Afghan Peace Process: Implications and Stability’ organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Thursday.
“Pakistan should not interfere in intra-Afghan affairs, instead Pakistan can help Afghanistan economically, and facilitate Afghan refugees, which will help build confidence between two countries,” said speakers.
Former foreign secretary Salman Bashir said that there was no attention paid towards social and economic development of Afghanis by stakeholders. Afghanistan’s economic stability is more important amid political process and peace process, which has destroyed since long, he said, adding that Pakistan should also focus on CPEC plus by expanding it to Afghanistan. He cautioned that if there is no consensus during peace process till mid of this year, US may withdraw its troops, which could result in civil war and chaos in Afghanistan.
Former ambassador Ayaz Wazir said that Pakistan should support an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process and should pursue its own interest instead of meddling with intra-Afghan affairs. “Pakistan is not prepared to handle Afghanistan, as we have failed to handle our tribal areas. Today, writ of Afghan government is historic low and Afghan Taliban control over 70 percent of the total territory, which has pushed the stakeholders, especially US, to talk and negotiate. As Afghanistan’s presidential elections are due in April this year, Afghans, including Taliban, would never accept any political set-up similar to the incumbent government.” Responding to a question, he said that India during peace process would remain quiet and wait for its opportunist time. “If both countries’ intelligence agencies sign a MoU of mutual cooperation on sharing cross-border intelligence it can prove to be a real cornerstone for confidence building between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Senior analyst Imtiaz Gul said that the progress towards the recent Afghan peace process was of paramount importance. He said that efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan was a shared and regional responsibility of all stakeholders. “Efforts should be made to take Iran and Russia on board to make the negotiations a success and meaningful. Responsibility also lies on Taliban that they should give guarantee to stakeholders that all minorities in Afghanistan would remain unharmed and there would remain ceasefire till peace talks’ conclusion,” he added.
He further said, “We have to develop a comprehensive strategy and policy for Afghan refugees to counter the negative propaganda.”
Erstwhile ambassador and SDPI Chainman Board of Governor Shafqat KakaKhel said that every country, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, has a major stake in peace and stability. Stressing the need of mutual cooperation, he said that there is a tremendous potential of medical tourism between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Peshawar city can be a hub for medical tourism. “We should not think of strategic depth and focus on economic depth, where we have around $5 billion trade potential.”
He said that Pakistan should not only contribute to restoration of peace but also sustainability of peace, which would reinforce the unity among the two states.
Dr Shafqat Munir, senior adviser and Director Resilient Development Programme, SDPI, said that Afghanistan always remained a key diplomatic challenge for Pakistan on security and internal political front. As Afghan peace process enters a new phase, it is hoped that the peace and stability would prevail in the region, he added.
Published in Daily Times, January 4th 2019.
