THE ongoing Afghan peace process is moving forward as the stakeholder are giving space to each other to reach an inclusive political settlement for ending the decades’ long conflict. US special representative for Afghanistan Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad held meeting along with General Austin Scott Miller, Commander Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. They discussed matters of mutual interest, peace and stability in the region, Pak-Afghan border management and current development in the Afghan peace process. The US point-man on Afghanistan euologised the sustained and proactive diplomatic efforts made by the Prime Minister Imran Khan and the military leadership for facilitating the Afghan peace process. Later, in a virtual address from Doha, Zalmay Khalilzad to a forum at the University of Chicago’s Pearson Institute emphasied the need for bilateral agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan to counter cross-border terrorism.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has shown anxiety to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before Christmas. On the contrary, NATO Secretary General Jean Stoltenberg made a reassuring statement, stressing for a collective decision by the members of military alliance after due consultation. The Prime Minister has already warned against the hasty withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan. In an op-ed article published in the Washington Post, Imran Khan stated that it would be unwise to set unrealistic timeline for such withdrawal.
Bilateral agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the need of hour to not allow their soil to be used by militant groups that undermine their security. The intentions of India are very well known that it does not want peace in Afghanistan and will spoil the peace process. The spike in terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan on civilians and Afghan government forces in the past few months by ISIS Khorasan and other terrorist outfits under its umbrella amply explains it. The reunification of splinter groups of TTP in Afghanistan is a dangerous development. Pakistan and other countries of the region including Central Asian States, China, Iran and even Russia are worried about the presence of sanctuaries of ISIS and other terrorists outfits inside Afghanistan and their spell-over effect on other countries, which will endanger the security of the region.
