MEETING of Foreign Ministers of China, Iran, Pakistan and Russia held on the sidelines of UNGA session, emphasized the need for a unified approach to address the challenges posed by perpetuating unrest in Afghanistan.
As expected, terrorism originating from Afghanistan once again came in the limelight as a major regional challenge. The four countries expressed serious concerns over terrorist networks operating from Afghan soil, including the banned TTP, BLA, ISKP, Al-Qaeda, ETIM and Jaish-ul-Adl. These groups pose a significant threat to regional peace and stability, particularly for Pakistan.
As a matter of fact, Islamabad has always viewed regional forums like the quadripartite meeting as beneficial means for seeking non-violent solutions of pinching unresolved problems. Islamabad emphasizes that claims of independence remain hollow as long as Afghan soil is used for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Islamabad’s extra-ordinary stress on the accountability of Afghan ruling regime has triggered from prolonged inaction of Kabul against terrorist outfits. Pakistan is repeatedly emphasizing that dismantling terrorist camps, blocking recruitment and curbing fundraising networks inside Afghanistan is non-negotiable. Kabul has to take decisive actions against all terrorist groups without discrimination to prove the purity of ruling regime’s counter-terror intentions.
Besides deliberating upon the issue of terrorism, all members pointed out the role of narcotics in driving instability. While Kabul has made efforts to curb opium cultivation, the surge in methamphetamine production and transnational smuggling routes continue to endanger the regional dynamics on many understandable accounts. Over a period of time, unresolved matters related to the repatriation of Afghan refugees have added complexities in bi-lateral ties of Afghanistan with neighboring countries.
It is encouraging that Pakistan and Iran’s burden of hosting millions of Afghan refugees was appropriately acknowledged in the meeting. Quadruplicate forum also sought financial support from the international community for dignified and sustainable repatriation and reintegration of refugees. Importance of regional connectivity and economic growth through collective trade cannot be ruled out. Stability is essential for economic uplift of entire region. Pakistan always points out that trade and integration are impossible unless Kabul first dismantles the terrorist infrastructure involved in cross-border attacks. Traditional hesitation on part of Kabul rulers, may it be Taliban or previous regimes, is detrimental to the spirit of mutual progress through regional level cooperation.
Non-flexible approach of interim Afghan Government towards human rights, especially the matters related to women, has drawn a lot of criticism from international community. Ironically, present rulers of Taliban have yet not delivered successfully in governance domain. In this backdrop, the quadruplicate forum has rightly asked the Taliban to improve upon the current deteriorated standard of inclusive governance and ensure the rights of all citizens without discrimination of ethnicity, religious faith and gender. The call for humanitarian support for the betterment of Afghan citizens was jointly floated by all members.
However, Pakistan rightly proposed that humanitarian aid should be delivered directly to the Afghan people to avoid the manipulative touch of ruling regime. Pakistan has effectively convinced the regional stake holders on the issues of cross-border terrorism, accountability of Kabul rulers, dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and regional connectivity.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
