Pakistani officials are reportedly intensifying their efforts to get
together US and Taliban negotiators for a new round of peace talks in
Afghanistan. They express confidence that they can get the two sides together, but say that any success or failure will depend on the negotiators themselves.
Talks between the two sides were going very well, with talk recently
that there would be a deal to establish a new government in Afghanistan
which would include Taliban representation. This was part of the reason
the US wanted the existing Afghan government to delay their elections.
But in the last couple of weeks, things appear to have soured, as the US
has apparently backed away from talk of a pullout, and are now trying
to get the Taliban to grant them having “long-term bases” which has the Taliban threatening to withdraw from the talks entirely.
The Taliban has long made clear that they consider their main condition
for peace the withdrawal of all US and other foreign forces from
Afghanistan. Since there is talk of a US drawdown at any rate, it’s not
clear why officials are suddenly seeking long-term bases to keep troops
there post-war.
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Pakistan should try and get its own house in order.
Getting the Americans to leave is a big part of them getting their house in order…
Pakistan has been in a mess well before the US invaded Afghanistan–with two-bit dictators or corrupt and wealthy politicians running the country.
Interestingly, Afghanistan now is closer to Hindu India than nominally Muslim Pakistan.
If you are going to honest about it, the American invasion pushed everything to 11 for all the neighbours, but especially Pakistan. Things improved enormously when the Americans ended their surge (from 150,000 to 15000), more so when the Army decided to stop playing ball with the American occupation. Suddenly, the terrorists were fewer, and had much weaker explosives.
Currently, Pakistan is much more upbeat, what with the peace dividend and the new Chinese projects. The media has made accountibility more feasible, and the judiciary is being very activist. Things are looking up.
As for the Afghans, this is old news, and has been so since our independence. They have been dreaming of reacquiring the lands they gave up to the British back in 1893. That is now the KPK province of Pakistan. So, they decided to become friends with the Indians to pressurise Pakistan. The Kabuli set had to make some mind-boggling rationalisations to justify being friends with the Hindus, while using “Indian/Hindi/Hindu/Punjabi” as a slur when arguing with Pakistanis. It never worked, and there are no serious takers of Afghan irredentism in KPK.
Ironically, despite their boneheaded politics, they seem to always show up in Peshawar when things go wrong for them. In fact, the government in Peshawar is scouting locations for new camps when the Kabul government breaks after May.
Agree with what you say. Pak made a huge mistake when it agreed to support the US following 9/11. It was gutless and did not serve the interests of Pak. At least the Taliban had the guts to tell the US to piss off. Pak is always sucking up to a powerful country–for decades it was the US, and now its the PRC. Does Pak have no pride at all? Frankly, a big part of the problem is that the Pak Punjabis have most of the power and don’t want to share it with other ethnicities
I’m pretty sure that Mr. I Khan will not be able to achieve much although he seems to be a pretty decent person. Learn from the PRC–they did not seek money or help from outside.
We can only hope.
Form our POV, Imran Khan represents a great improvement. Even if all his plans come to naught, at the very least he will not steal.
The other guys (the Sharif brothers, and the Bhutto-Zardaris) have mortgaged this country to the hilt, and left the Exchequer with bill.
So, we can only hope.
Also, yeah, we have already been through all the rage and disappointment about our compatriots across the river. We are now at acceptance, and distinct lack of expectations.
Still loads better than what our kinfolk across the mountains have deal with…