To embark on the alley of peace to succeed in the true sense, the Afghan and US governments, foreign forces, militant groups and legitimate political players must opt the path of collective reconciliation and pledge to end the hostilities, writes Ahmed Khan
The Afghanistan government wisely removed the barrier to paving the way of intra-Afghan dialogue by approving the release of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners earlier week.
After a prolonged but successful prisoner exchange, the Taliban and the Afghan government have prepared to initiate their first round of official face-to-face talks in Doha in the coming weeks which is flagrantly a great gesture of unfolding the doors of peace and prosperity in the war-ravaged country.
The prisoner swap proved to be an alarming bridge to be crossed. But after the daunting cross-over, will intra-Afghan dialogue yield promising results? Will Intra-Afghan dialogue contribute to long-lasting peace in Afghanistan? Will there be a permanent ceasefire between both poles? Will both opponents demonstrate flexibility and compromise in their approach to arrive at a solution that is in the best interest of the Afghan people ‘tired of war’?
The possible apprehensions over the intra-Afghan negotiations may trigger further complexities that could lead to the worsening of the situation in an already war-torn country. Intra-Afghan dialogue if pursued with political acumen for achieving internal stability in Afghanistan seems to be a narrow but feasible path.
But the clouds of despair are hovering over Afghanistan and overshadowing the ripples of hope in the region. How? Here goes: The troubled-region is gripped by never-ending civil war. Proxies of India and Iran are operating in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is carrying out terrorist activities in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Afghanistan.
Daesh is emerging an imminent threat to the earlier year signed a peace deal and is pursuing a bloody opportunity to inherit the role of spoiler. Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other Pakistani militant groups, such as Jamatud Dawah, Lashkar-e-Islam, Ansarul Islam and Islamic Jihad Movement are also active and carrying out attacks in the region.
Now the question arises here: How Afghan Taliban will manage to neutralise the nefarious designs of all these militant and terrorist groups by victoriously living up to the peace accord inked between the United States and the Afghan Taliban on February 29, 2020?
Afghanistan has long remained a global battleground for the varying interests of different global players. Chaos and anarchy have been ruling Afghanistan for decades. There are indeed conflicts within the conflicts which are likely to plunge the country into further political pandemonium and chaotic ambiance by dashing the hopes of an unprecedented bounce-back to peace following the US-Taliban deal.
But Trump administration is leaving no stone unturned to withdraw its adequate troops from Afghanistan before the presidential election in November in order to tout this as a major foreign policy achievement and garner overwhelming support from the populace in the election despite commanders in his military worry that a swift and outright withdrawal could lead to a state of continuous violence and conflict in Afghanistan which could again result in safe havens for terror groups.
On the other hand, long-drawn intra-Afghan negotiations will also increase the chances of spoiler events as the Islamic State group is already a looming threat for that. Last but not least, intra-Afghan may compound the sensitive dilemmas and ensure power-sharing predicament between both poles. Above all, successful intra-Afghan dialogue does little to prevail in peace and harmony in Afghanistan.
A successful and sustainable outcome of Intra-Afghan negotiations will require an approach that hinges on these factors: identifying underlying interests of the all stakeholders operating in the region, negotiating the clear crystal settlement or exclusion of foreign forces, declaring permanent ceasefire to abstain from getting mired into civil war and political chaos, brokering effective and comprehensive peace talks among political forces within Afghanistan on a common political framework for power-sharing and the foremost would be the future form of government in Afghanistan.
To embark on the alley of peace to succeed in the true sense, the Afghan and US governments, foreign forces, militant groups and legitimate political players must opt the path of collective reconciliation and pledge to end the hostilities in order to pave the way of tranquillity and serenity in the troubled-region.
The Afghanistan government wisely removed the barrier to paving the way of intra-Afghan dialogue by approving the release of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners earlier week.
After a prolonged but successful prisoner exchange, the Taliban and the Afghan government have prepared to initiate their first round of official face-to-face talks in Doha in the coming weeks which is flagrantly a great gesture of unfolding the doors of peace and prosperity in the war-ravaged country.
The prisoner swap proved to be an alarming bridge to be crossed. But after the daunting cross-over, will intra-Afghan dialogue yield promising results? Will Intra-Afghan dialogue contribute to long-lasting peace in Afghanistan? Will there be a permanent ceasefire between both poles? Will both opponents demonstrate flexibility and compromise in their approach to arrive at a solution that is in the best interest of the Afghan people ‘tired of war’?
The possible apprehensions over the intra-Afghan negotiations may trigger further complexities that could lead to the worsening of the situation in an already war-torn country. Intra-Afghan dialogue if pursued with political acumen for achieving internal stability in Afghanistan seems to be a narrow but feasible path.
But the clouds of despair are hovering over Afghanistan and overshadowing the ripples of hope in the region. How? Here goes: The troubled-region is gripped by never-ending civil war. Proxies of India and Iran are operating in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is carrying out terrorist activities in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Afghanistan.
Daesh is emerging an imminent threat to the earlier year signed a peace deal and is pursuing a bloody opportunity to inherit the role of spoiler. Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other Pakistani militant groups, such as Jamatud Dawah, Lashkar-e-Islam, Ansarul Islam and Islamic Jihad Movement are also active and carrying out attacks in the region.
Now the question arises here: How Afghan Taliban will manage to neutralise the nefarious designs of all these militant and terrorist groups by victoriously living up to the peace accord inked between the United States and the Afghan Taliban on February 29, 2020?
Afghanistan has long remained a global battleground for the varying interests of different global players. Chaos and anarchy have been ruling Afghanistan for decades. There are indeed conflicts within the conflicts which are likely to plunge the country into further political pandemonium and chaotic ambiance by dashing the hopes of an unprecedented bounce-back to peace following the US-Taliban deal.
But Trump administration is leaving no stone unturned to withdraw its adequate troops from Afghanistan before the presidential election in November in order to tout this as a major foreign policy achievement and garner overwhelming support from the populace in the election despite commanders in his military worry that a swift and outright withdrawal could lead to a state of continuous violence and conflict in Afghanistan which could again result in safe havens for terror groups.
On the other hand, long-drawn intra-Afghan negotiations will also increase the chances of spoiler events as the Islamic State group is already a looming threat for that. Last but not least, intra-Afghan may compound the sensitive dilemmas and ensure power-sharing predicament between both poles. Above all, successful intra-Afghan dialogue does little to prevail in peace and harmony in Afghanistan.
A successful and sustainable outcome of Intra-Afghan negotiations will require an approach that hinges on these factors: identifying underlying interests of the all stakeholders operating in the region, negotiating the clear crystal settlement or exclusion of foreign forces, declaring permanent ceasefire to abstain from getting mired into civil war and political chaos, brokering effective and comprehensive peace talks among political forces within Afghanistan on a common political framework for power-sharing and the foremost would be the future form of government in Afghanistan.
To embark on the alley of peace to succeed in the true sense, the Afghan and US governments, foreign forces, militant groups and legitimate political players must opt the path of collective reconciliation and pledge to end the hostilities in order to pave the way of tranquillity and serenity in the troubled-region.