UNIPATH STAFF
Pakistan’s highest-ranked military commander threw his support behind the Afghan peace process during a visit to Kabul in June 2020. Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa discussed the need for a political solution between the Afghan government and the Taliban opposition. He also sought an agreement leading to the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.
The journey to Kabul included meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, U.S. Army Gen. John Nicolson and Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah.
Gen. Bajwa congratulated Afghan leaders on “recent peace initiatives” and expressed a wish that “these steps gain more of a permanence ultimately leading towards an enduring peace,” the Pakistani military said. The general also “desires that U.S. and NATO forces must succeed and leave behind a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.”
Bajwa announced the visit to Afghanistan after meeting in Islamabad with U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. Khalilzad helped broker a peace deal in February 2020 with Taliban representatives during negotiations in Qatar.
The next step in the peace process is direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators. Kabul released thousands of Taliban prisoners in the spring and summer of 2020 as a goodwill gesture. Pakistan announced the reopening of the Torkham and Chaman border crossings to facilitate trade between the two countries.
Former Pakistani Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Asif Ghafoor noted that peace talks were necessary to end a military stalemate in Afghanistan. The growing effectiveness of Afghan Soldiers and pilots has stymied Taliban attempts to subjugate the country.
“The Afghan Taliban cannot conquer Kabul militarily, but no force can eliminate all of them either to bring peace to Afghanistan,” Ghafoor said. “So there has to be a midway to achieve a political reconciliation acceptable to all sides.”
Lisa Curtis, then-senior director for South and Central Asia at the U.S. National Security Council, has encouraged the Pakistanis to play a bigger role in easing tensions in Afghanistan. Pakistan itself has suffered from the conflict and accuses terrorists of launching attacks on Pakistan from the border regions of Afghanistan.
“We have asked for Pakistan’s assistance in facilitating a peace process, and we have sought to understand Pakistan’s own core security concerns and ensure that its interests are taken into account in any peace process,” Curtis said.
Sources: Voice of America, Hilal, Gandhara