Pakistan a promoter of peace

Pakistan is a peace loving country, strictly believing in and pursuing a policy of peaceful co-existence with all countries, particularly the neighbours, and thus is committed to have friendly cordial relations with all and enmity towards none. Pakistan’s commitment to peace in the region and also to the world over, is also manifested through its major contributions to the UN Peace Missions’ efforts in strife and war-torn countries in different parts of the globe.

Afghanistan  is an important immediate neighbour, having its borders in the east and south with Pakistan  and being landlocked, uses the sea route via Pakistan. Afghanistan has been suffering  from war since  the 1970s. After the brutalities of the civil war,  foreign invasion of the Soviet Union in 1979 and the USA in 2001 following  the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York  have resulted  in  destruction  everywhere in Afghanistan  and killed thousands of innocent Afghans. Great powers obviously  came to Afghanistan one after the other apparently to  crush the roots of religious extremism, drug trafficking, terrorism and smuggling.

Somehow, Pakistan did not enjoy cordial relations  with its western neighbour Afghanistan. Pakistan has suffered the most  due to wars and instability in Afghanistan and has lost billions of dollars and thousands of people including men, women and children besides armed forces and security agencies personnel over the years in the War on Terror  started by the USA.

Pakistan is supporting the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan and making sincere, dedicated and committed efforts in convincing  all stakeholders  to sit at the table, talk and resolve differences and issues, and trying to ensure stability in the country. As a result of persistent efforts of Pakistan at all levels the Taliban and the USA signed  a peace deal in Doha on 29 February 2020  to end the longest war in the history of the USA.

It is high time that peace is given a chance in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned solution, a peace for which the Afghan elite has made great sacrifices for the two decades as the war hit the people of Afghanistan. A one-man show cannot be suitable for durable peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan  has played a positive and constructive role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table with the USA. This important contribution of Pakistan is being appreciated by all stakeholders, particularly the US top leadership and also the world at large,  who are keeping their fingers crossed and praying that things keep moving in the right direction  and the desired objectives of peace in war torn Afghanistan are achieved as early as possible.

US President Joe Biden has already announced a withdrawal of  troops stationed in Afghanistan from May and that the withdrawal process would be completed by September 11, 2021—the 9/11  of the 2001 terrorist attacks had started the longest war and on 9/11 of  2021, the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan will mark its culmination .

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa  have time and time been advocating ,supporting and stressing on an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while addressing the 9^th Heart of Asia –Istanbul process sometime back, had stated, “No other nation  could claim  to have such immutable bonds with Afghanistan and thus be more desirous of peace in Afghanistan than Pakistan”.

While appreciating Pakistan’s positive contributions towards  the Afghan peace process, there have been hostile remarks and voices  raised occasionally by the US leadership. Former US President Donald Trump had been continuously  blaming Pakistan  for directly and indirectly  supporting  terrorist organizations. Prime Minister Imran Khan had responded very hard  by emphatically saying the USA could not blame  Pakistan for its failure in Afghanistan, as deapite the help of over 100,000 NATO soldiers, over 250,000 Afghan soldiers and the spending of over $1 trillion, the USA could not win the war in Afghanistan. General Bajwa also hit hard against the allegation by emphatically stating that  Pakistan has done a lot to bring peace in Afghanistan, and had suffered  due to the Afghan war more than any other country.

It is needless to point out  that a peaceful Afghanistan is very important  for bringing stability in the region. Pakistan is the neighbour most affected BY the long duration of the Afghan war which  is neither in favour of the whole region nor the world powers at large.

Peace in Afghanistan can promote  the transit trade through Central Asia, while the great Chinese great gamechangers in the region, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the One Belt One Road initiative provide the facility to Beijing, Islamabad, Kabul and Central Asia Republics  of an easing of transit trade, but it will only happen if peace returns to Afghanistan.

Pakistan has played its vital role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table for signing a peace accord and also been stressing on the Afghan government and the USA  to keep  an eye on the spoilers to ensure things keep moving forward as the dialogue is the only meaningful solution  to end the war in Afghanistan. India has its interests at stake in Afghanistan,  and a stable Afghan-Pakistan border is against them. Pakistan is genuinely  worried about Indian influence in Afghanistan, and has pointed out RAW’s involvement in Pakistan a number of times, but the Afghan government has not been giving any positive response.

And,  it is also worth mentioning here that Pakistan has been hosting the largest number of Afghan refugees for decades together  who had fled Afghanistan in the wake of the  invasion by the Soviet Union. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has time and again praised Pakistan for playing host to such a large number of Afghan refugees for such a long period. Pakistan is still hosting more than three million Afghan refugees.

If peace returns to Afghanistan, Pakistan will obviously be  the biggest beneficiary as  peace and stability in Afghanistan will greatly contribute towards overall peace and stability not only in Pakistan but also the region all over. Pakistan has been continuously, and still is, playing a positive and constructive role for bringing stability to Afghanistan. It is a matter of record that Pakistan has tried a number of times to establish cordial relations with Afghanistan  but there has been no positive response from its western neighbour.

It is high time that peace is given a chance in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned solution, a peace for which the Afghan elite has made great sacrifices for the two decades as the war hit the people of Afghanistan. A one-man show cannot be suitable for durable peace in Afghanistan.

There is a lot more that can be written about Afghanistan, which has  34 provinces and more than 400 districts, and  is known as the graveyards of empires.  The Soviet Union had disintegrated  following its invasion of Afghanistan and now the USA is currently facing  down internal  fissures, and cultural and economic divides of its own. But all this awaits some other time to be dilated on.