Afghanistan and the existing dilemmas

The POST, Sun, June,11, 2006.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema


In a recent statement a former army chief and recently retired ambassador Gen. Jehangir Karamat recommended that Pakistan should try to strengthen Karazai government in Kabul as it is in the interest of Pakistan. Undoubtedly a stable government in Afghanistan would indeed be in the interest of not just Pakistan but also of all other neighbors. There could be no dispute over this statement but when you try to translate into actual policy pursuits, it is not all that easy especially if one takes cognizance of the dilemmas confronting the Pakistan as well as Afghanistan.  

Pakistan’s dilemma is how to maintain friendly ties with the Afghans and make substantive inputs towards the strengthening of the incumbent Karazai regime and simultaneously check rapidly increasing Indian influence over Kabul regime. Not only the past policies of Pakistani governments clearly reflect its constructive efforts to facilitate Afghans but even the current efforts indicate that Pakistan is keen to see a stable Afghan regime. During the Afghan war against the Soviets the Pakistan government went out of the way to accommodate more than four million refugees and also facilitated the Afghan resistance groups in their efforts to get rid of foreign occupiers.

It is a well known fact that Pakistan’s open door policy towards the Afghans eventually resulted in many complications whereas the Iranian policy was carefully carved. However it needs to be stressed here that following the ouster of the Taliban regime, Pakistan’s de-linking with Taliban has not yet fully sunk in among some quarters. The accusation that Pakistan is providing a sanctuary to Talibans is not at all true. However it is difficult to deny the existence of some sympathies for Taliban among certain sections of Pakistani Pakhtoons. This does not mean that Pakistan is not engaged in preventing the periodic undesired infiltration from some parts of Pakistani tribal areas.

Pakistan has always been deeply interested in Afghans welfare and has consistently extended its full cooperation. Cognizant of close geographical proximity sharing a long and difficult border stretching over 1400 km, close ethnic linkages, shared historical experiences and trading interactions, both Pakistan and Afghanistan need to work hard towards the attainment of closer ties and increasing cooperation in almost all fields. The existence of Pakhtoons on both sides of border makes it imperative for both to avoid irritations, unnecessary conflict situations, provocative statements, undesired insinuations and wild accusations etc. If one is annoyed over certain aspect of a particular policy, it should immediately get in touch with the counterpart and try to resolve it quickly.

In recent times the Pakistani forces have started an army action against the foreign militants who use the borders areas of both Pakistan and Afghanistan for their nefarious designs. Pakistan’s actions against the foreign militant elements in the tribal areas are not only meant to curtail their illegal activities but also to ensure peace and security in the area. It is not too fetched to assume that some foreign militant elements may try to enter Afghanistan after feeling the heat on Pakistani side. However the Pakistani forces are engaged in ensuring that both sides of the border are safe and the terrorists are not allowed to enter Afghanistan. But this does not mean that the entire border is effectively plugged and sealed. The activities of both the Talibans and Warlords are also causing headaches for the Kabul regime. Pakistan has undertaken effective measures to check the Talibans activities alleged to have been taking place from their Pakistani hideouts.

Undoubtedly there is a realization that the two neighbors need to live in peace and harmony. Frequent contacts and visits of senior officials have been able to improve ties between the two countries considerably though some senior non-Pakhtoon officials of President Karazai’s government along with American officials in Afghanistan did manage to damage the relations between the two countries. During the early days of Karazai regime one can easily afford to ignore the policy pursuit of shifting responsibilities but continuous dwelling on such a policy even after the passage of four years begins to reflect the contribution of other undesirable factors and also tends to expose the hollowness of the policy.

The opening of many Indian Consulates has further intensified Pakistani concerns. Many Pakistanis believe that the Indians are using these Consulates not just to fish in troubled waters of Pakistan’s bordering provinces but also to foment troubles for Pakistan. A consulate is supposed to protect mutual trading interactions as well as it is expected to ensure the interests of its nationals who are settled in that area. Admittedly the Indian are involved in the reconstructions of Afghanistan in a rather impressive ways but their trading interactions within the areas, where the Consulates are opened, are extremely limited and even the settlements of the Indians are hardly visible. For obvious reasons it is also the duty of the Kabul regime to ensure that these Consulates do not indulge in undesirable activities against a third country.

The Afghan dilemma is how to secure stability and ensure a reasonable level of developments. Cognizant of its fragile security situation and increasing need for accelerated development, the Afghan government in fact requires the cooperation of all.  A complicating factor that has indeed made things little difficult for the Afghan government is the incumbent level of distrust between India and Pakistan. Afghanistan needs the help of both India and Pakistan. While it has facilitated the Indian by allowing them to open so many Consulates but they have kept no vigilance over their activities. To secure the cooperation of neighbors, it is imperative that Afghanistan carefully avoid any misunderstandings and elicit more and more cooperation for its own objectives. For obvious reasons the Afghan government needs to work hard in ensuring a reasonable level of internal security.  

Pakistan’s Relations with Afghanistan has always been somewhat problematic despite the existence of a realization that both need to have very cordial relationships. While Pakistan’s major objective is to have a friendly and stable Afghanistan on its western borders, it appears that the developments in Afghanistan have invariably influenced the Afghan decision makers to employ the strategy of shifting responsibilities in one form or the other. Pakistan is fully conscious of the fact that instability in Pakistan would have direct and serious repercussions for Pakistan; therefore all of its efforts are directed towards the stability, unity, development and prosperity of Afghanistan.

An addition complicating factor has been the interplay of the non-neighbors which make things rather complex for the Afghans. Afghanistan has always remained a playground of outsiders which made it rather difficult for Afghanistan to pursue an independent policy of its own. A stable Afghanistan is certainly in the interests of all its immediate neighbors as it could facilitate projects like Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan pipeline. The disturbing developments inside Afghanistan would certainly have spillover effects most of the neighbors. The Afghan decision makers also need to learn the balancing act both in terms of its own heterogeneous society and outsiders varied interests.

However Pakistan’s rational approach and sincere efforts to improve relations with Afghanistan have eventually resulted in warming of ties and attained a reasonable level of cordiality.  Most Pakistanis never doubted the sincerity President Karazai; it was the elements within his cabinet and the American diplomatic representative in Kabul which often threw a spanner in the rapidly improving Pak-Afghan relations. The pledges to remove irritants and to help each other in various field certainly generates optimistic vibes which in turn invariably would enable the two countries to cement the existing ties.

The writer works for Islamabad Policy Research Institute.