AS the unbending attitude of Taliban threatens peace talks, US President Donald Trump again vowed on Sunday to “get the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan resolved very quickly,” expressing his confidence that peace could be restored to the region very soon.
Speaking to reporters during his visit to Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN Summit, Trump described Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir as “great people”. Trump said the situation between the two neighbouring countries was among the few remaining conflicts his administration was determined to resolve swiftly. He noted that his government had already “ended eight wars in eight months,” adding that only one — the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict — remained to be settled.
The remarks of the US President reflect concern of the international community over continued tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which threaten not only regional peace but can also undermine counter-terrorism efforts. This concern was also highlighted by the sincere efforts being made both by Qatar and Turkiye to help the two countries sort out their differences and prevent relapse of hostilities. As for President Trump, he has demonstrated his ability to intervene effectively to help resolve conflict in different parts of the globe but it is to be seen what leverage he has with the Taliban to persuade them to discard their rigid stance for the sake of regional security and peace. This is because reports emanating from Istanbul are not encouraging where Pakistan presented clear, evidence-based and solution-oriented demands to the Afghan Taliban in talks on cross-border militancy but Taliban’s response is said to be illogical and detached from ground realities. There are reports that instead of acknowledging the presence of fugitive TTP terrorists on its soil and taking concrete action against them as per genuine demand of Pakistan, Taliban are suggesting that Islamabad should have direct negotiations with the TTP. This is a clear manifestation of lack of willingness on the part of the Kabul regime to take any action against TTP and instead confirms its patronage of the terrorist outfit. According to security sources, the Pakistani delegation made it clear during Sunday’s session that the Taliban’s support for militant groups operating from Afghan soil cannot be tolerated. Islamabad, they said, demanded ‘concrete and verifiable steps’ from Kabul to eliminate cross-border terrorism. However, the untenable response of the Taliban to the demands of Pakistan further exposed their linkages with terrorists creating more questions about their commitment to peace. Pakistan maintained its stance that it will not engage with Fitna al-Khwarij and that the Afghan Taliban must withdraw their support to the leadership of all proxies. Officials also highlighted that the Taliban’s refusal to act on Pakistan’s demand — which has been endorsed by Turkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — indicates that their current course is taking precedence over the consensus of international interlocutors. It is quite evident that the Taliban are serving the interests of India, which has a clear agenda of inflicting harm and weakening Pakistan in every conceivable manner. This is also a ground reality in view of concrete evidence about Indian involvement in acts of terrorism in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. As talks were underway in Istanbul, security forces eliminated 25 Indian-sponsored terrorists, in separate actions after two large groups of the Khawarij tried to infiltrate areas along the Pak-Afghan border. The continuation of infiltration attempts cast doubts on the intentions of the Interim Afghan Government with regard to addressing the issue of terrorism emanating from its soil. All this makes it clear that the Indo-Afghan nexus is destabilizing the region despite Pakistan’s sincere and repeated peace overtures, therefore, the onus of a wider conflict would rest on Afghanistan and India.
