A window of opportunity for Pakistan

Afghanistan has been known as the “graveyard of mighty empires”. It has doomed multiple empires that have attacked its land. The two prominent examples after World War II are the death and ultimate destruction of the former USSR; and the destruction of the USA and its allies in terms of the loss of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in a war with no positive results for them. It is the reason that the USA wants to end the longest war in its history and wants a complete and swift withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan even before the given time. This state of affairs presents a score of challenges for regional countries including Pakistan, but it also offers Pakistan a good window of opportunity.

Initially, the war was launched by the USA and its NATO allies without thinking of ifs and buts. The day’s administration under President George W. Bush was so arrogant that it did not even give Pakistan a chance to think whether to be part of this war or not. Pakistan was told straightforwardly in a threatening posture, “either you are with us or with them (Taliban ruling regime in Afghanistan)”. Hence, Pakistan joined the war which was not its own. In this way, an attack followed by bloody civil war began in the region. That war brought destruction not only for Afghanistan but for the whole region beyond its borders.

The most affected regional country, in this regard, was Pakistan. It witnessed hundreds of terrorist attacks, bore loss of thousands of lives and suffered loss of billions of dollars to its economy. It tried hard to fight those insurgents and destroy their whereabouts. It launched multiple operations against those terror outfits. Even then, it was asked to Do More, by its NATO allies. They, on the one hand, did not praise Pakistan for its sacrifices in their war, on the other hand, pressurized it and condemned it for not doing enough.

Similarly, the United States and its NATO allies tried all the methods and techniques to subdue the Afghan Taliban fighters and end the insurgency, but he Taliban remained firm and fought back with the mighty empire and its allies. This made the USA and its allies realize that they were unable to win over the Taliban and that their taxpayers’ money and soldiers’ lives will be lost in this long and protracted war. Hence, they decided to save face, talk to the Taliban and leave their land with a deal.

Pakistan is an important regional actor and it is playing a great role to create peace in Afghanistan. It has been pursuing Afghan Taliban, from day one, to come to terms with the USA and NATO in order to end the longest war in the region’s as well as US history. No doubt, the Taliban have responded to Pakistan’s call and are engaged in talks with some reservations. Therefore, Pakistan has to take its all steps very cautiously and act prudently to gain peace for it and for the region and above all cease the opportunity to revive its political and economic position on the global stage.

Following this, the USA and its NATO allies began to take help from different countries to ask the Taliban to come to the negotiation table and resolve the issue accordingly. Hence, after the lengthy and great efforts of various countries such as Qatar, Russia, Turkey and Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban accepted the US offer of talks. The most important role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table, no doubt, was of Pakistan that wields a good amount of influence over the Afghan Taliban and their leadership.

Now, when both parties are negotiating with some gaps and divergences in their aims and objectives, it is Pakistan again that has to play a vital role, so that a sustainable deal may be concluded. A sustainable deal is not only in the favor of both parties involved, but is also of great importance for the peace in Afghanistan and the region beyond. It is really important for Pakistan also, because peace in Pakistan can only be created when there is peace on its borders. Moreover, Pakistan has suffered a lot at the hands of this war without any personal interest or gain.

Therefore, the current regional situation is really favorable for Pakistan, as through it peace would be established in the western corner of the country and it has also provided a window of opportunity for Pakistan as it is the most important regional actor due to its influence upon Afghan Taliban.

Furthermore, as the USA wants to monitor Afghanistan once its troops are gone, Pakistan can play a vital role in this regard. Pakistan, as stated by its Foreign Office, has taken a right step by not providing any physical presence to the US and NATO troops through Pakistani bases, and by demanding the transfer of modern technology equipment so that Pakistan can monitor situation in Afghanistan and can bring peace in Pakistan as well as in the region beyond its borders which might be disturbed by non-state actors after the withdrawal of the US and NATO forces.

Furthermore, Pakistan can fully benefit from the prevalent situation in such a way that it might ask the USA and its Western allies to persuade the International Monetary Fund to provide it a loan on relaxed conditions,as discussed by Finance Minister in his recent post-Budget press conference. Additionally, Pakistan can also pursue leaders of the world to take Pakistan out of the financial watchdog FATF’s enhanced monitoring Grey List, as Pakistan was not put into this list purely on merit but due to the pressure of some states that wield a good amount of influence on the watchdog.

Pakistan is an important regional actor and it is playing a great role to create peace in Afghanistan. It has been pursuing Afghan Taliban, from day one, to come to terms with the USA and NATO in order to end the longest war in the region’s as well as US history. No doubt, the Taliban have responded to Pakistan’s call and are engaged in talks with some reservations. Therefore, Pakistan has to take its all steps very cautiously and act prudently to gain peace for it and for the region and above all cease the opportunity to revive its political and economic position on the global stage.