ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has reaffirmed his government’s willingness to partner with the United States to achieve durable peace in Afghanistan, but said in no uncertain terms that Pakistan will not render its soil for counter-terrorism operations inside its war-torn neighbour.
In an opinion for The Washington Post published Tuesday, the prime minister said: “We simply cannot afford this. We have already paid too heavy a price [by way of participation in the war against terrorism].”
The opinion comes ahead of a planned meeting between President Joe Biden and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani and High Council for National Reconciliation chief Abdullah Abdullah, Ghani’s chief peacemaker, on Friday to discuss US troop withdrawal amid a surge in fighting between security forces and the Taliban across the country.
“If Pakistan were to agree to host US bases, from which to bomb Afghanistan, and an Afghan civil war ensued, Pakistan would be targeted for revenge by terrorists again,” Imran feared.
As US troops withdraw from Afghanistan, Prime Minister Imran said: “We will avoid risking further conflict.”
“If the United States, with the most powerful military machine in history, couldn’t win the war from inside Afghanistan after 20 years, how would America do it from bases in our country,” he wondered.
Imran, during an interview with US news platform Axios aired Monday, had called on the United States to find a political settlement to its war in Afghanistan before withdrawing from the country as violence surges across the country
In his opinion, he said that Pakistan and the US have the same interest in Afghanistan — a political settlement, stability, economic development and the denial of any haven for terrorists, he said, pointing out that Islamabad had made every effort to facilitate the Afghan peace process.
“We oppose any military takeover of Afghanistan, which will lead only to decades of civil war, as the Taliban cannot win over the whole of the country, and yet must be included in any government for it to succeed.”
In the past, the prime minister recalled, Pakistan made a mistake by choosing sides between warring Afghan parties, but now Islamabad has no favourites and will work with any government that enjoys the confidence of the Afghan people.
“History proves that Afghanistan can never be controlled from the outside.”
Pakistan had suffered so much from the wars in Afghanistan — more than 70,000 people killed, he said, observing that the losses to the economy have exceeded $150 billion.
“After joining the US effort,” the prime minister said, “Pakistan was targeted as a collaborator, leading to terrorism against our country from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other groups.”
“US drone attacks, which I warned against, didn’t win the war, but they did create hatred for Americans, swelling the ranks of terrorist groups against both our countries,” he said.
“While I argued for years that there was no military solution in Afghanistan, the United States pressured Pakistan for the very first time to send our troops into the semiautonomous tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, in the false expectation that it would end the insurgency.
“It didn’t, but it did internally displace half the population of the tribal areas, 1 million people in North Waziristan alone, with billions of dollars of damage done and whole villages destroyed,” Imran added.
The interests of Pakistan and the US in Afghanistan were the same — a negotiated peace, not civil war, he said.
“We need stability and an end to terrorism aimed at both our countries. We support an agreement that preserves the development gains made in Afghanistan in the past two decades. And we want economic development, and increased trade and connectivity in Central Asia, to lift our economy. We will all go down the drain if there is further civil war.
“This is why we have done a lot of real diplomatic heavy lifting to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, first with the Americans, and then with the Afghan government,” the prime minister said.
“We know that if the Taliban try to declare a military victory, it will lead to endless bloodshed. We hope the Afghan government will also show more flexibility in the talks, and stop blaming Pakistan, as we are doing everything we can short of military action.
“This is also why we were part of the recent ‘Extended Troika’ joint statements, along with Russia, China and the United States, unambiguously declaring that any effort to impose a government by force in Kabul would be opposed by us all, and also would deprive Afghanistan access to the foreign assistance it will need,” he said.
He also observed that four of Afghanistan’s neighbours and partners are on the same page on what a political settlement should appear like.
Pakistan believes that promoting economic connectivity and regional trade was the key to lasting peace and security in Afghanistan, he said, adding further military action was futile.
“If we share this responsibility, Afghanistan, once synonymous with the ‘Great Game’ and regional rivalries, could instead emerge as a model of regional cooperation.”
Afghanistan doesn’t need Pakistani mediation/ terror sympathizer.
Afghanistan is an endless cesspit of misery, but a weak Afghanistan is less of a problem than a strong one obsessed with erasing the Durand Line border.