IN an interview with PBS News Hour, an American news show, Prime Minister Imran Khan made a realistic assessment of the Afghan situation and successfully conveyed a message that Pakistan has no favourites in Afghanistan and it just wants an end of the conflict and power sharing to ensure sustainable peace in the war-torn country.
He said by the time the US realized that there was no military solution in Afghanistan, unfortunately, the bargaining power of the Americans or NATO had gone.
He told the questioner that the Taliban sitting down with the Ashraf Ghani government to form an inclusive government was the best choice.
The United States and its allies pursued the approach of ‘might is right’ in Afghanistan as they denied the Taliban their legitimate share in power by way of use of force.
Had they been sincere to the cause of durable peace in Afghanistan, they should have made tangible moves for political settlement of the crisis when they had formidable military presence there, as has been pointed out by the Prime Minister.
The way the US and its allies are leaving Afghanistan has conveyed a vivid impression of their total failure in realizing the objectives they pronounced at the time of toppling the Taliban Government and occupying the country.
This is also borne out by the ground realities as they begged to the Taliban not to attack their withdrawing troops and the Taliban, who are reported to be no more than sixteen thousand, are scoring victories in the length and breadth of the country against the Afghan National Army that has a strength of 325,000 and is trained and equipped as per modern-day requirements.
It is because of the highly negative implications of the continued strife in Afghanistan that Pakistan wants a solution that is durable and acceptable to Afghans themselves.
If Afghanistan descends into further chaos, it will have socio-economic consequences for Pakistan besides complication of security and law and order situation, which is of prime interest to the country in view of its renewed focus on progress and development as well as implementation of projects aimed at promoting regional connectivity.
It is in the interest of Afghan people, the region and the overall interest of the global community that crude interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan comes to a halt and instead Afghans are encouraged to find a political settlement based on sharing of powers.
